Fox of Crystal Cove
by Moretsuna Sora
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki has been alone for years after his parents vanished and left him in the small town of Crystal Cove. Life in the odd tourist town has been interesting considering his group of friends. But, with his reoccurring dreams coming more frequently paired with an odd note he feels something even more mysterious might begin soon. Naruto x Velma harem - Rated M
1. Chapter 1

**Fox of Crystal Cove**

 **Chapter 1**

 _ **Contributor: DragonPony022**_

Naruto frowned at the recurring sight in front of him. He knew it was a dream since he had seen this same scene for nearly the last year or so.

It was an old almost broken shrine as pieces of it looked like they were about to cave in on itself. It was bound in a red rope that looped around it so many times, sealing off the shrine from being opened but still allowing him to see into it, through the wooden screens.

His body tensed again, like always as he felt the same oppressive force push down onto him while a single massive red eye opened up behind the screen. The eye nearly took up all of the insides of the shrine, the slitted pupil widening in the dark before a pearly white fanged teeth smiled at him.

" _Soon boy, very soon we will meet again_ " the dark voice whispered out, fear almost gripping his chest before it all went away in a flash as he bolted up from his bed.

He panted out breathlessly as he always hated how he was awoken so abruptly from the nightmare. 'Ugh, same freaking thing every night but at least it doesn't wake me up too early' he thought as the alarm just started to chime before he silenced it and got off his bed.

His name was Naruto Uzumaki, a 17 year old that lived in the 'haunted' city of Crystal Cove. He was an orphan who lost his parents around when he was five but besides that, his dark red hair, and whiskers on his cheeks he was moderately normal.

'Another day and most likely another stupid person deciding to dress up as a monster' he thought with a sigh as people trying out insane plots to either rob the town of something or drive everyone out of it. It was an odd mix of interesting and annoying.

Especially since the adults and authority figures of the town always fell for them being real and wanted to profit off of it.

The only people who didn't get swept along with the stupid masked monsters happened to be the group of people he called friends. Together they formed a group that were always at the center of everything and were the ones that solved them.

The group consisted of Fred, the son of the mayor, Daphne, the daughter of Crystal Cove's most successful family, Shaggy and Scooby, a man and a dog that literally had a bottomless stomach and then there was Velma.

Velma was his closest friend, ever since his parents disappeared. She was also the girl he has had a crush on for nearly as long as he has known her.

To him Velma was utterly amazing. She was the smartest person he knew but never bragged about it or looked down on others like him since he was about average when it came to intelligence. Her figure was also incredibly beautiful, even if she didn't see it herself. She was even so spontaneous at times, trusting her gut as much as she did her brain.

Overall to him she was the whole package to him, the only downside was that she never noticed his feelings. Though it didn't keep him from being her closest friend.

He sighed a bit saddened as he brought up old wounds before he heard a car honk from outside the medium sized apartment he rented. Smiling he stuck his head out of the window to see his friends waiting for him in their van.

"I'll be right out!" he called before going back in his apartment and closing the window.

Going quickly he threw on his usual outfit which consisted of a long sleeve black shirt and an orange jacket vest that had a black fur lined hood. His pants were dark blue jeans while he wore black sandals as wearing close toed shoes always felt off with him.

He quickly left his apartment and smiled as his friends waved at him.

"Morning Naruto, how'd you sleep? Same nightmare as usual?" a familiar voice asked as he turned and smiled, trying not to blush as he looked at the source of it.

He swore every time he saw Velma she got more and more beautiful in his eyes. She was about a head shorter than him with a cute rounder face and short chin length auburn hair that had two red bows in it. Her eyes were a light green behind her glasses that brought out her light freckles.

Her figure was amazing, not a twig like other girls but she had a curvier figure with weight in all the right places that she carried well, a nice rather high D-cup chest and a very plump rear. Her trademark orange turtleneck sweater and red skirt hid her amazing figure but with how close he was with her he had seen what was under the one time she actually wore a bikini before she decided to keep herself protected from the sun.

From his time together with her due to them knowing each other for so long he came to love her quick wit that made her able to trade facts and insults on the fly. Also due to his closeness with her he was the only one to know of Velma's slight wild side.

She always wanted to be noticed and listened to due to her tourist attraction and slight money obsessed parents never fully paying attention to her, something he was happy to pick up slack for.

"Yeah, same nightmare. I just wish it would stop or something for once. It's really getting annoying" he said as he ran his hand through his spiky red hair that poked out in every direction, his blue eyes looking down at Velma as she frowned up at him.

She was the only one he trusted well enough to tell her about the nightmare, she had tried suggesting numerous remedies but none of them helped.

"I'm sure they will stop soon, I'll look up some more remedies after school" she said as he smiled and hugged her, resting his head on top of her head, something he knew she found embarrassing.

"Thanks Velma, always so sweet" he said with a chuckle as she rolled her eyes with a smile and hugged him back.

He always loved having her in his arms as it made him feel like for a brief moment they were actually together and unbeknownst to him Velma also liked being in his arms. Something about it made her feel like she was safe.

The hug, like normally, lasted for a time that others might consider awkward but their friends had grown to accept it after learning of his parentless situation and the fact Velma was the person he had been closest to since he was young.

"Come on guys! We need to get to school!" Fred said as he honked the horn slightly, making Naruto sigh and let go of Velma.

"You get in the front, I'm going to stick in the back" Velma said as he frowned but nodded.

While she walked away he couldn't help but stare at her luscious thighs and plump ass, which was barely hidden by her red skirt which, with the way she walked at times and the way her skirt was short, allowed him to see brief flashes off her butt and panties.

He knew he it was slightly perverted to stare but with how things were with her not catching onto his feelings for a couple years looking was all he had sadly.

"Sorry Naruto, I tried to get you and Velma some more time" Daphne said with a frown as she was the only person that really knew of his feelings towards Velma, something she deduced on her own and, with his somewhat terrible poker face when it came to it, he confirmed it to her.

Since then she was his 'ally' as she was somewhat in the same unrequited love situation between her and Fred.

"Thanks Daphne but it's fine, not like I won't possibly get other chances" he said with a slight chuckle as Daphne nodded with a smile as she scooted over, allowing him to sit next to the window while Scooby, the talking dog of the group to lay on the floor while he ate a sandwich.

"Rorning Raruto" Scooby said with a smile.

"Morning Scoobs" he said with a chuckle as he pet the dog before closing the door and letting Fred pull off onto the road.

He couldn't help but sigh as he saw Velma talk with Shaggy in the back of the van. He wasn't petty or shallow but he honestly didn't see what Velma saw in Shaggy. Shaggy was a nice guy and a good friend when it came down to it but it always seemed he was more interested in his dog Scooby than anything else.

The main thing that really annoyed and borderline pissed him off was how he seemed almost scared and grossed out whenever Velma tried to show him affection. It honestly made him question the boy's sexuality a bit.

He tried not to grind his teeth as he saw Velma try and show Shaggy affection. Grinding his teeth was a bad habit he picked up from biting his tongue and keeping his comments to himself whenever he got somewhat jealous of Shaggy.

"Hey Scooby how about you come sit up on the seat, I'm hopping in the back" he said as Daphne patted him on the back before he hopped over the seat and sat next to an upset Velma who was glaring at Shaggy.

"Sorry it was a bit stuffy up there with four people so I thought I'd join you back here" he said with a smile as he put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his side. His smile grew slightly as Velma leaned against him and rested her head on his chest.

Naruto tried not to roll his eyes as best he could as Shaggy mouthed 'Thank you' to him. He ignored the teen as he started to stroke Velma's shoulder and arm as while they were in a position that most people would picture couples in, this was merely how they always were.

Velma felt happy as her frown from being upset at Shaggy not accepting her affection slowly disappeared completely into a smile as the comforting touch of Naruto, as always, cheered her up. Her smile grew as she scooted closer, resting more against Naruto as he continued to caress her.

Before he could enjoy Velma being in his arms anymore they were jostled forward as Fred slammed on the breaks just as a manhole cover shot up into the air a few feet in front of the Mystery Machine.

He frowned as green smoke gathered around them just as the manhole cover imbedded itself into the street a couple feet from them and a noise that sounded like a mix between a growl and a gurgle sounded out from in the smoke.

"Quick roll up the window!" Naruto said as he saw some shadow coming closer to the open window before Daphne leapt over and quickly rolled up the window just as a glowing green hand slammed onto the window.

He watched from the backseat as the monster's arms stretched out, rocking the van before he held onto Velma, cushioning her as they are slammed against one side to the other. He had a slight blush on his cheeks as due to the shaking he was currently holding onto some of the exposed parts of Velma's thighs.

He couldn't help but take a bit of an advantage of the situation as he gently rubbed his hands up and down her thighs a bit as best as he could with the rocking.

Velma, not that he could see, also had a blush on her cheeks from the physical contact but decided to keep her mouth shut, figuring it was all because of whatever was attacking the van.

"Zoinks! Like, what was that?" Shaggy asked out as Naruto tried not to blush from the fact that because of how the van was shaken up Velma's chest was now against his face.

"It looks like a mystery to me and I think that's a little more important than school to me!" Fred said as he quickly got out of the van and ran after where the shadow had lumbered off to.

"Come on guys" Daphne said as Velma quickly got up, shaking off her blush as she grabbed Naruto's wrist and pulled him up before they all ran after Fred.

He frowned a bit as one by one they all went down into the sewer, turning on their flashlights so they could see. "Well I doubt our sewers are supposed to have holes in them like this" Naruto said as he flashed his light towards the hole in the wall that led to what looked like one of the Crystal Cove's caves.

"Guys look over there" Velma said as she flashed her light towards a stack of metal drums, all bearing a radioactive symbol with glowing green goo seeping out of them. "They look like military style barrels. By the oxidation I'd say probably 30 or 40 years old" she added as Naruto moved her back before she could step into any of the green waste.

"Be careful then, I doubt stepping in something radioactive is good for your health" he said with a chuckle as Daphne wandered off.

"Fred, I think I found something" Daphne said as they looked over to see her holding a golden locket that played a light tune when opened.

"Nice work Daphne, it could be a clue" Fred said as Daphne blushed softly and smiled.

"Thanks Fred you're so sweet…" she said before she looked up to already see Fred walking away "oh uh we can talk later then" she added with a sigh before Naruto patted her on the back, a gesture they often gave to one another when their interest somewhat shut them down.

Naruto frowned as he crouched down and picked up a hardhat, wondering where it came from before they all heard a dripping sound. He was the first to start looking up before he sighed. "Well this just got a bit weirder and I think it's time to call the cops" Naruto said as they all saw three cocooned workers stuck to the ceiling of the caves.

The cops, being that they were nearby city hall, came rather fast before escorting them out of the caves while removing the bodies from the ceiling.

"Alright do you kids see what happens when you stick your noses where they don't belong? People get cocooned!" Sheriff Stone, the sheriff of Crystal Cove and their least biggest fan, said as Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Well first we found him like that and how is this remotely our fault?" he asked with a sigh before the sheriff glared at him.

He and the sheriff never got along, more so than the others. He didn't know if it was because of his lack of parents or the fact that the sheriff had tried before to 'set him straight' but they often butted heads a lot.

"Yeah and there was a monster" Daphne said before the sheriff interrupted her.

"Okay from this point forward this is a crime scene and a future tourist attraction. Stay out of it!" he said as Velma clenched her fist and shook it at the back of the retreating sheriff.

"I've got a 'stay out of it' right here" she said with a growl as he smiled, resting his head on top of hers as he put his hands on her shoulders to calm her down.

"Calm down Velma I doubt the mayor would be happy that his sheriff got beaten down by you" he said with a chuckle as Velma pouted slightly from him resting his head on hers but made no attempt to push him away.

"Let me talk to him" Fred said with a smile as he walked towards the cop cars and ambulance.

"Don't worry, Fred will make him understand" Daphne said in a dreamy tone, watching Fred walk away before they widened their eyes in slight shock when Fred started to run back towards them with one of the cocooned bodies over his shoulder.

"Shaggy start the car!" Fred said as Naruto almost fell over laughing while he went to open up the back of the Mystery Machine.

"I thought like you said you were going to talk to him?" Shaggy asked as Fred shrugged his shoulders, still running towards the van.

"He wasn't in a listening mood" Fred said in a hurried tone.

"So you steal a dead body? Rockin'" Velma said as she stood next to Naruto before Fred tossed the body in the van.

"Well I guess I can cross 'stealing a body' off my bucket list" Naruto said with a chuckle as everyone, besides Velma, looked at him strangely. "What? Weekend at Bernie's" he said explaining it as they all nodded, understanding that he didn't have anything creepy behind it.

"Come on guys, I know just who can help us" Freddy said as Shaggy and him got in the front seat, leaving Naruto, the two girls and Scooby in the back with the body.

"Well let's hurry, having a dried up dead body this close to me is a bit disturbing" Velma said as she scooted closer to Naruto, trying to move out of the body's line of sight.

Shaggy, being the one driving, quickly drove them to their high school before he and Fred started to carry the body through the hallways of the school.

"Are we seriously just going to barge in there? I'm pretty sure this will traumatize some people...on second thought let's go in there, it sounds fun" Naruto said with a chuckle before Velma jokingly, not at all seriously, hit him on the back of the head.

"We are in a hurry so we have to go in now" Fred said as they quickly stormed into the biology classroom. "Professor Raffalo, we need your help" he said as the whole class ran out screaming, making Naruto chuckle as he knew that was going to happen.

"Couldn't you kids have waited until break?" the professor said as Naruto shook his head.

"And miss seeing everyone run off screaming? No way" he said as Velma smirked at him and rolled her eyes.

She was use to his pranking nature and how he liked messing with people at times. She also knew he used to be worse when it came to it as in the past he use to terrorize the kids in the elementary school with paint bombs and the like.

It wasn't until he accidently splashed her in paint did he tone it down and keep it under wraps. Nowadays he only used his skills when he needed them, to either help with Fred's traps or just mess with whatever costumes monster that was terrorizing the town.

While he might not be the smartest kid in school he was very smart when it came to making controlled explosions and pyrotechnics. He still always kept a smoke bomb on him in case they needed to make an escape.

"Fine, just set the cocoon on my table" the professor said as Shaggy and Fred quickly went over to set it down, allowing the professor to check it over with a stethoscope.

"Is he like, dead?" Shaggy asked with a shiver as Professor Raffalo shook his head.

"No...he's alive and seems to be in some kind of dehydrated stasis" the professor said as Naruto shrugged his shoulders.

"Well good for the guy but bad for my list" Naruto said with a chuckle as the professor continued to look the cocooned body over.

"I have no idea how this came to be but I'm guessing it's temporary" Raffalo said as he took off his stethoscope.

"Do you have any idea what could have done this?" Daphne asked as the professor rubbed his chin.

"I'm not sure I'll have to do further tests" he said as Velma rose her hand up to get his attention.

"Couldn't you scrape the cocoon off him a bit and study that so we can get the body to the hospital since he is still alive" Velma said before Fred covered her mouth with a nervous smile as he awkwardly laughed.

"You do your tests professor and we'll get out of your hair" Fred said still awkwardly laughing as he started to gather them up and move them towards the door.

"I'm sure he will get the medical treatment he needs when he gets out of the cocoon Velma, for now we should worry about the monster that is cocooning the people so no one else gets in the same situation" Naruto said as Velma nodded before they got back into the van.

"Let's go get some food and figure out our plan to find the monster" Fred said as Shaggy and Scooby smiled at the mention of food.

"Oh! Let's like go to Fruitmeir's!" Shaggy said as Fred nodded and got behind the wheel.

"Ugh, that stuff is so weird" Naruto said with a shiver as that green food had such an odd consistency and wasn't yogurt or ice cream. He didn't like eating something that no one knew what it was.

He conceded though as he, Velma, and Shaggy got back in the back with Velma sitting down next to him again as the van pulled out of the school parking lot towards Fruitmeir's.

The ride there was a bit silent, most likely due to Fred already thinking up possible traps for him to use to catch whatever monster there was, Shaggy and Scooby too focused on eating, and Velma just relaxing against his shoulder.

"Come on guys, lets, like, get in line before it gets even longer" Shaggy said as they waited in line while Naruto slightly had to hide a bit behind the others to avoid the one thing that honestly scared him.

Clowns.

He didn't know what it was about clowns that scared him but it was the one thing he can't handle. Bring him face to face with any other monster and he'd be fine and ready to take them down but clowns honestly terrified him.

"Oh Naruto, I'm so sorry I forgot that the owner of Fruitmeir's is a clown" Velma said with a frown as she comfortingly held her friend's hand to try and calm him down.

"It's fine, I know how much Shaggy and Scooby like it so I wasn't going to make you all go somewhere else just because of my random fear. Plus I'm fine as long as it stays away from me" he said as he gave Velma's hand a squeeze as the line quickly moved along.

"Come on guys let's get the fruitmeir and leave. Naruto's having trouble with the whole clown thing" Daphne said as she was the next to remember her friend's fear.

Fred nodded as he paid for a cone for each of them and eight for Shaggy and Scooby as they made their way towards the door. "I still don't know what this stuff is" Fred said with a slight frown as he bit into his.

"That's the point, like, it's supposed to be a secret" Shaggy said as he held a box that had all eight of his and Scooby's cones sitting in it before they started to eat...if you could call it that.

At times Naruto wondered if they actually ate sometimes since they often made more of a mess, sending food flying everywhere and their mouths covered in food. Scooby he could understand eating like that since he is a dog but Shaggy was a teenage boy.

"You know what, I'm not hungry anymore, you can have mine Scooby" Naruto said as he tossed his cone towards the dog who jumped up and caught it in his mouth. "Now can we please get out of here? I really don't like it here" he said before a pair of green gloved hands grabbed his shoulders.

"Aw come on, it's always fun at Fruitmeir's! How about a shrimp boat made out of circus balloons" Fruitmeir said as Velma and the others widened their eyes, a bit worried what Naruto would do since when he was afraid Naruto either punched or ran.

Thankfully for them he silently bolted from the store so fast it made a bit of a gust.

"I'm sorry Mr. Fruitmeir, he just has a bad fear of clowns. Nothing personal!" Velma said as she quickly followed after her friend with the others following behind her. Thankfully Naruto stopped running as he was holding onto a railing for support.

"I hate clowns!" he growled out with a shiver as he shook it off.

"Are you okay?" Velma asked as she hugged him from behind, rubbing his back to calm him down. She didn't mind comforting her best friend but it always made her blush a bit whenever she felt his toned and defined muscles against her like whenever they hugged or leaned against one another.

He too had to hold back his blush as he felt Velma's body press against his back, her breasts, even under her sweater, pressing up against him made things difficult.

"You always are the one who calms me down so easily, thanks Velma" he said with a soft smile as he started to run his hands over her arms that were wrapped around his chest. Though with how her face was basically buried in his back no one noticed the light blush on her face due to the sincere comment from her friend, making her happy she was still able to calm him down like this even after so many years.

"Like how come no one comforts like me and Scoobs when we get like scared?" Shaggy asked as Daphne, who was smiling at the cute moment that to everyone else looked like friend helping another friend but to Daphne she could see the undertones of it.

"That's because you are always scared Shaggy and if we did that every time we'd be glued to you" Daphne said as they opened their mouths to retort but frowned and shut their mouths as they knew it was true.

"Come on guys, we need to talk about the monster and how if the cocoon is organic it would be the first honest to goodness monster in Crystal Cove" Fred said as Daphne sighed.

As much as she loved Fred he had little or no tact when it came to stuff like that as well as timing.

Velma sighed as she pulled away from Naruto, fixing her glasses "My guess is that the cocoon is a multi-celled mutation, probably a result of radiated allotropes and free-radical implosions" she said as she walked over towards Shaggy. "What do you think Shaggy?" she asked as she tried to hold his hand.

Naruto's hands clenched around the railing as he saw Shaggy freak out and run away from Velma like she was a monster claiming he wanted more fruitmeir's.

"You know that is interesting but if it is radiation, like those drums we found underground, wouldn't there be readings of radioactivity around town and the bodies of the people cocooned would be getting radiated as well" he said as he turned around, facing them and leaning back against the railing. "So it makes me wonder is it made of something else or what" he added with a frown as something felt off about it.

"We'll have to see what Professor Raffalo finds out tomorrow. I'll see you guys tomorrow" Fred said as he and Daphne walked off towards the van.

"Well at least someone listened to me" Velma grumbled as Naruto slung his arm over her shoulder with a chuckle.

"I might not understand most of it but I listen" Naruto said with a chuckle as they started to walk home, both of which were rather close by to one another. He frowned a bit as he noticed Shaggy returning and pulled his arm off of her, knowing already that she most likely wanted some space to talk with him "I'll catch up in a bit I think I forgot my phone in the Mystery Machine so I got to check before Fred drives off" he said as Velma nodded and he jogged over to the van before sighing and leaning against it.

"I'm sorry Naruto that Fred keeps interrupting yours and Velma's moments. I'm trying to teach him the concept of a 'moment'" Daphne said as she rolled down the window.

"It's whatever, seems like Fred did that same to you a while ago. We are both fighting an uphill battle" he said as he noticed the defeated look on Daphne's face.

"Well at least yours actually notices things from time to time unlike mine who, as much as I love him, is so dense. Getting him to look away from his traps and focus on me is like trying to get Scooby to spend a romantic evening with a cat" she said with a sigh as Naruto patted her head, making her giggle and smile a bit.

"I know it will be hard but it's not like either one of us is going to just quit since I doubt feelings work like that" he said with a chuckle as she nodded.

"Thanks Naruto" she said as they watched Shaggy and Velma talk a bit in the distance though with Naruto's above perfect hearing he could somewhat listen to them even from across the street.

He was incredibly thankful for his insane patience since if not for that he would have snapped at Shaggy long ago for how he constantly keeps pushing her off for Scooby Doo, not listening to her or even doing anything with her as he was afraid of his dog getting upset.

"Not to be rude to Shaggy but he really is an idiot for being more worried about a dog than Velma" he said with a sigh as Daphne nodded as they watched Shaggy run off after Velma tried to kiss him and he ran his hand through his hair.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow, I'm going to catch up to Velma and try and cheer her up" he said as Daphne smiled.

"Good luck!" she yelled as he jogged after Velma to catch up with her.

"Hey sorry about that I actually did leave my phone in the van" he said with a smile as he draped his arm over her shoulder again. "So there's this science fiction movie marathon on tonight and was wondering if you wanted to watch it with me?" he asked her, chuckling as she looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Why do you want to watch that? We both know you don't understand much of those kinds of movies" she said as he rubbed the back of his head with a smirk.

"Well I know you love those kinds of movies and we always watch them when they come on. Plus you look a bit upset about something so I thought what better way to cheer you up" he said as he gave her shoulder a soft squeeze.

Velma couldn't hold back her smile as it broke through her frown "Fine, I guess that sounds fun. Plus I haven't been over in a while and I want to make sure you aren't making a mess of your room again. And you better have kept those chocolates that I like in stock." Velma said while playfully poking him in the chest as he smiled and nodded.

"I have been keeping the place nice and clean Velma since I really don't want your parents to get upset about it since it is technically their place that I'm renting. As for the chocolate I always keep some in my cupboard in case you randomly drop by since you have a key" he said with a smirk as her knew how 'addicted' Velma was to chocolate and was fine with buying them for her.

"Well then what's keeping us? I'll call my mom when we get there" Velma said with a smile as she was happy to get some alone time with Naruto, her closest friend, since with all the mysteries and monsters that have been coming into town for the last few months they had been very busy.

Both of them couldn't help but smile as they walked towards his apartment, his arm still draped over his shoulder as she moved closer to him, always enjoying when he was close. He always made her feel safe, especially given how many times he had saved her and the others from the monsters and fought the monsters to give them time to escape or capture it.

He was the bravest person in the group, even with his debilitating fear of clowns.

Velma must have been too caught up in her thoughts as they had arrived at his apartment before she even noticed. "Well? Come on in Velma, it's not like this isn't a second home to you or anything" he teased as he gave her a squeeze on her shoulder while he opened the door for her.

She blushed a bit out of embarrassment for not paying attention for the walk over while she let herself into the apartment. It was a modest one bedroom one bath apartment that had a decent sized kitchen and even a little living room and even came equipped with a washing and drying machine.

It was a place her parent's leased out to him after he turned 16 and they decided he should get his own place and move out of their basement. He paid for the rent by working for them at her family's gift and tour shop.

She smiled as she saw the usual pictures of the group around his apartment as his friends were basically everything he had. No one else in the group knew that he was an orphan and had been missing his parents since he was five, a fact that was covered up by her whenever they were 'arrested' for saving the town she would lie and say they were always out of town.

Thankfully no one ever questioned it and figured he was staying with her until they came back from their trip across seas.

Her smile grew slightly as she noticed a few photos of just the two of them. They ranged from them as little kids to more recent. She was a bit happy that he had pictures of just the two of them since it meant they really were still close, even with the whole thing where Shaggy and she had started dating.

He was the only one she told since she never wanted to hide anything from him and he was always so supportive of her.

"Velma? You still there?" Naruto teased as she looked up to see him smiling at her with a bar of chocolate and two coffee cups full of tea in his hands. She also noticed how he had changed out of his usual clothes and into a pair of black pajama pants and an orange sleeveless shirt that had a red spiral painted on the front of it.

"Did you get changed, make tea and grab my chocolate in the time I was looking around?" she asked as he chuckled and nodded while she took her tea and chocolate.

"Yeah, you've been out of it since Fruitmeir's. Are you feeling okay?" he asked as he pressed the back of his hand against her forehead.

"Yes I'm fine," she said as she gently pushed his hand away "I've just had a somewhat bad day. Are my pajamas and clothes still where I left them cause I really need to get out of this sweater" she said as while it was chilly outside it was rather warm in his apartment.

"Yeah they are still where you left them, the only clothes of yours I touch here are the dirty ones you put in the basket" he said as Velma nodded with a smile and quickly ran into his room, taking them from his dresser and slid into the bathroom.

"I'll get the TV turned on and ready so we can go straight to watching when you get out. I might order a pizza, the same as always right?" he asked through the closed door.

"Yeah! That sounds great" she said as since the pizza place was literally just down the street she didn't doubt that it would be here in a few minutes.

Velma hummed a little tune as she changed into her pajamas, which consisted of a dark red tank top and a pair of short soft orange pajama shorts. Normally she would never wear these kinds of things in public but around Naruto it was fine. She had known him since she was little so she wasn't nearly as self-conscious around him.

Naruto tried his hardest not to stare at Velma as she walked out of the bathroom just as the pizza was delivered, being that he normally ordered one around this time, but failed as now that she was out of her baggy clothes he could see all of her figure.

He was able to see just how plump her butt was, how soft her thighs looked and just how sizeable her breasts were, something that was extremely hidden under her baggy sweater.

Velma blushed a bit as she noticed him staring at her, her pride as a woman going up a bit as she felt proud that her best friend still saw her as a girl and not just his friend only. "What are you looking so intently at?" she asked as she suddenly became very self-conscious from how intently he was looking.

Naruto quickly snapped out of his daze and blushed softly as he tore his eyes away from Velma and her body. "O-Oh n-nothing, I just haven't had you over here in a while so I was just enjoying this bit of normalcy" he said with a chuckle, quickly turning his face to hide the blush.

"Well come on, the marathon is starting so we wouldn't want to miss the beginning" he said as he picked up the pizza and smiled at her.

"Sure I'll just text my mom as a formality since it's pretty much if I'm not home I'm over here plus I'm pretty sure the horses are racing today so she won't even notice me missing" Velma said with a smile as she walked over to the living room.

Again he tried not to look but Naruto couldn't help but watch her as she walked off into his living room, her rear jiggling a bit as she jumped onto his couch with a smirk. "Well come on Naruto, the movies are starting" Velma said as he nodded and walked over, taking his seat next to her.

"Yeah I'm here, turn it on" he said with a smile as he slung his arm over her shoulder, relaxing into the couch as the movies started.

 **-A Few Hours Later-**

Velma woke up with a slight groan as she rubbed her eyes, blindly reaching for her glasses as the last thing she remembered was watching movies with Naruto on the couch meaning she had fallen asleep on the couch.

'There, they are' she thought while she grabbed her glasses, slipping them onto her face before a blush covered her cheeks as she saw just how close she was to Naruto.

In Naruto's sleep he seemed to have wrapped his arms around her, pressing her up against his chest and making her feel his defined muscles through their moderately thin pajamas. 'Oh Naruto, you're really making this hard for me' Velma thought with a frown as she contemplated pulling away but couldn't bring herself to do it and ended up wrapping her arms around him, pressing herself against him a bit more.

She had long since given up the thought that someone like Naruto, who was easily one of the most popular and good looking guys in school, would go after someone like her. She was a nerdy plump girl and he was a toned and athletic boy that was the exact opposite of her when it came to looks.

She was happy with him just being her friend and giving her the occasional hug as well as moments like these where they hung out at his apartment. 'At least he's still my friend and is still here for me' she thought as she rested her head against his chest.

"Velma…" Naruto mumbled out as she slowly looked up, a bit afraid that he woke up just as she had started to basically cuddle him. The worry though went away as she saw that he was still asleep.

It made her smile a bit more as he seemed to smile happily after saying her name. She jolted slightly in surprise as she felt his hand slide down her back, brushing up against the bare skin of her lower back as her shirt rode up a bit while she slept.

Her blush grew even darker as he almost seemed to be petting her lower back, dangerously close to her butt a bit. The near intimate contact made her surprised but at the same time made her feel comfortable, it made her wonder how this would feel to have all the time and not just when one of them was asleep.

She let out a content sigh as she laid her head against his chest and pulled herself closer to him, cuddling up against him as while she had given up the pipe-dream of hers to be with Naruto and started to try to fall for Shaggy instead she wanted to enjoy what she could.

"Goodnight Naruto" she whispered with a smile as she took off her glasses, setting them on the table, before she drifted off back to sleep, entirely comfortable in the embrace of her closest friend and the man she knew she could never get.

 **-Next Morning-**

Naruto was the first to wake up as the blaring sound of the alarm on his phone woke him up before he quickly hit the snooze button but it was too late as he was already awake. As his eyes adjusted to the light he couldn't help but smile as he saw Velma's hair messily sprawled against his chest while she let out a grumble as she seemed to be slowly waking up.

He smiled a bit as he felt his hands on her lower back, on the bare skin as her shirt was pulled up a bit. He could have removed his hands but with an opportunity like this he didn't feel like wasting it as he started to pet her lower back.

"Why good morning sleeping beauty" he said with a chuckle as she dryly laughed into his chest, her face still buried in it.

"Yeah right, I so could pull off a cartoon princess" she said as she was still tired and adjusted herself to stay comfortable, wiggling a bit as she kept her hold on him and continued to use his chest as a pillow.

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle as he smiled down at her "Yeah you're right, you're much better than any boring princess that would need saving. I say having a clever girl that can take care of herself is far more appealing" he said as he teasingly poked her lower back.

Velma smirked as she looked up at him, even with her terrible eyesight, able to make out his face and smile as she poked his cheek "Yeah and don't you forget it" she said as she kept her finger against his cheek.

A bit in a trance as they looked at one another, Velma smiled and used her index and middle fingers, slowly tracing his jawline, as Naruto found himself gently caressing her skin along the rim of her shorts.

Neither one of them looked away from one another, their cheeks slowly heating up from the near intimacy of the moment but, before anything could or would happen, the alarm on his phone started to blare again, interrupting whatever was going on between the two of them.

Velma was the first to sit upright as a blush grew darker on her cheeks "I-I have to go change" she said quickly as she quickly felt around for her glasses before she ran off towards the bathroom, barely giving any time for Naruto to look at her.

Naruto wasn't faring any better as he covered his face with his hands and let out a muffled groan. 'This is torture!' he yelled mentally as he turned off his cellphone alarm and resisted throwing it against the wall for ruining whatever that moment was. 'If things continue like this I doubt I'll be able to just be the friend that helps her with her crappy relationship' he thought as he started his coffee machine since he still remembered how Velma needed some to fully wake up.

'I don't want to be an asshole that steals a girl from someone else but with Shaggy it seems like he doesn't even care about the relationship' he thought with a sigh as he sat down at his kitchen table before he shook his head ran his hands through his hair.

'No! Velma honestly deserves someone who actually wants to be with her. I hate seeing her all depressed and sad whenever Shaggy runs away from her and I care too much about her to continue seeing it happen' he thought as he clenched his fists. 'If I have to be a jerk and steal her away then honestly, so be it' he added with a sigh as Velma walked out of the bathroom, still wearing her pajamas, which seeing her in them only steeled his resolve.

She also wore a smile on her face that put him at ease as he had slightly been worried he had freaked her out or something with that odd moment between the two of them. "Oh, I'll pour your coffee for you. It should be brewed" he said as he walked over to the coffee maker and started to pour her a cup, adding the additions she liked in it.

"Thanks Naruto, coffee always helps me wake up a bit in the morning" she said as she accepted the cup before taking a small sip to test the temperature, letting out a content sigh. "You always get it perfect, I've tried asking Shaggy to get me a cup at the little coffee place near school but he never remembers it correctly even after telling him repeatedly for years" she said with a chuckle as Naruto smiled and poured himself a cup.

"Well I just remember always having to make it for you back when I lived in your basement so you would get out of bed. You were always so lazy in the mornings back then, I remember how cute and awake you looked almost the second after drinking some coffee you would always go back to reading whatever book you were into at the time before I had to drag you out of the house" he said as she smiled, hiding it behind the cup as she watched him smile at her, drinking his own coffee.

Velma for once, between last night and this morning, actually felt a very small bit of hope. Hope that maybe the pipedream of being with Naruto wasn't so unobtainable. Though her insecurities still nibbled at the budding hope.

"I'm going to go change real quick and I'll pull out your clothes as well for you to change into after your coffee, is that okay?" he asked as she nodded with a smile. Halfway to his bedroom he stopped and turned around, looking at Velma with a bit of a nervous smile "Oh I was wondering since it always feels better to eat with someone rather than alone do you want to come by for dinner? I'll walk you back home after it" he said as Velma looked up at him and smiled.

"That sounds great actually" she said as he smiled and turned back around to go get changed to allow her to get changed next before they spent their weekend most likely with the others since that is how most weekends ended up as.

And true to the point he was right. A few minutes after they both had gotten changed he had gotten a call from Daphne telling him something had happened to Professor Raffalo and that Fred had apparently taken it hard since he was the one that had gotten the professor involved.

Apparently Fred was moping around at the local radio station, which was ran by another friend of theirs Angel Dynamite. Of course getting there when Fred owned the only transportation they had made it a bit difficult.

Thankfully though Velma's mom was able to help him and Velma get there.

"I was wondering when you all would get here. He's in the back" Angel said as Naruto was still impressed at her ability to pull off old 70's style clothing and not make it look ridiculous.

They followed as Angel led them to the back room of the radio station studio to see Fred asleep on the ground, hugging onto a record player before Daphne walked up to him, crouching down to his level.

"Fred? It's us, we're here for you" Daphne said as she hugged him on the ground and Scooby licked up his hair.

"It's no use gang, I was the one who stole the body and Professor Raffalo paid the price. I should have listened to my dad and stayed out of anything to do with mysteries" Fred said as Velma stepped forward with a frown.

"We all helped steal the body Fred" Velma said before Shaggy held up his hand.

"Well I never actually touch-Ow!" Shaggy started to say before both he and Velma elbowed him "Fine geez, we all took part Freddie" he said as Velma rolled her eyes.

"Fred Jones, you've never turned away from a mystery in your life" Daphne said as Fred raised his head.

"But I've got nothing!" Fred yelled as Velma put her hands on her hips and frowned down at Fred.

"Man up Fred! We've still got our first clue, the cocoon. I brought a sample-Scooby! What are you doing!?" she said before yelling at the dog in shock as he was eating away at the sample of cocoon she had set down on the table.

"What? It's Fruitmeir's!" Scooby said before he went back to sloppily eating it, making Velma shiver and Angel to frown.

"Check it out, if that dog mutates I'm putting it down, dig?" she said as Shaggy walked past them.

"Wait, like hold on. I think I get it" Shaggy said as he walked over, dipped his own finger into to bowl and tasted it making everyone cringe and let out an 'eww'.

"No you guys it's fruitmeir's, the cocoon is made out of the same stuff as Mr. Fruitmeir's dessert" Shaggy said as they walked over to see if it was true.

"I'm still not eating that stuff after Scooby's been slobbering over it" he said just as everyone else tasted it.

"He's right but if the cocoon is made out of fruitmeir's dessert" Daphne said as Shaggy interrupted her.

"Then if we capture the monster we can open up our own shop and have an endless supply of fruitmeir's dessert" Shaggy said as Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Or that means we don't have to worry about radiation and the monster is a clear hoax as I doubt a real monster would be made out of a dessert" Naruto said as he leaned against the doorframe. "Stop thinking with the bottomless pit you call a stomach" he added as Shaggy frowned slightly and Fred rubbed his chin.

"What do we know about Franklin Frutimeir?" Fred asked as Naruto shivered.

"Besides that he is a clown?" he asked as Velma patted him on the shoulder consolingly.

"I'll look it up" she said as she sat down behind Angel's computer and started researching.

"Apparently he showed up out of nowhere two months ago. Besides that we know nothing" Velma said as with her skills on a computer looking up one clown was easy enough. "He is hiring right now for female servers" she said as Fred smiled.

"Then that's our in" Fred said as Shaggy nodded.

"If the girls can get jobs at Fruitmeir's they can snoop around and find out more" Shaggy said as Fred smiled and nodded.

"That's a great idea Shag!" Fred said as he and the others got their plan together.

 **-Fruitmeir's-**

Naruto struggled not to laugh to the point he was red in the face as he looked at Shaggy and Scooby in the female uniform all with wigs and makeup on them.

"Um, like, this isn't exactly what I had in mind. Why are me and Scooby dressed like girls when Daphne and Velma are girls?" Shaggy asked as Scooby adjusted his skirt.

"Yeah, my skirt is too tight" Scooby said as Daphne and Velma smirked at them.

"Because Velma and I refused" Daphne said as Naruto smiled at Velma.

"I still think you would have looked great in it Velma" he said as Velma scoffed, a soft blush on her face, and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah right, only in your dreams" Velma said as he shrugged his shoulders with a chuckle as while Shaggy and Scooby were working at the shop until closing he and the others would be getting the parts to Fred's next trap set up so they could put it together wherever they were planning on trapping the monster.

The day went by rather quickly as before any of them really noticed it was already night and Fruitmeir's was closing up. "Okay gang, now's our chance" Fred said as they watched Mr. Fruitmeir leave the store and have Shaggy and Scooby lock up.

Once they were at the door Shaggy quickly opened it and accepted his clothes from Daphne.

"Alright gang fan out, see if you can find anything that ties Franklin Fruitmeir to the slime mutant" Fred said as they all split up, though Naruto followed Velma as always since that was kind of how things went with splitting up: Fred and Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby, and then him and Velma.

As they looked around they found nothing so far, only drawers full of boxes of balloons and the freezers full of the fruitmeir dessert, which Shaggy and Scooby were devouring.

"Let's go check out the kitchen" Velma said as Naruto nodded and followed her before they heard Daphne calling for help as she pounded on a door.

"Daphne?! Are you okay?" he asked as he picked up a crowbar from nearby before Fred also came running over to help.

"Yeah! The door closed behind me suddenly" Daphne said as he and Fred forced open the door just as Shaggy and Scooby bolted into the room but before they could crash into Daphne he quickly pulled her out of the way.

He sighed as they crashed into the room before he looked in and didn't even see them. "Did you two crash through the room?" he asked before he noticed a hole in the floor at the back of the room.

"I-It was like a monster!" Shaggy's voice yelled out from the hole before they all looked down to see that they had fallen down into one of the caves that ran under the city.

"We found something!" Scooby added as he shrugged his shoulders and jumped down the hole.

"Hmm, I think this is the same cave we were in the other day" Naruto said as he held out his arms to catch Velma while he looked away politely so he didn't see up her skirt.

"It must run through Fruitmeir's as well" Velma said as Naruto set her down, allowing her to dust off and straighten her skirt, before he caught Daphne next.

"And check that out," Daphne said as she pointed towards another hole in the ceiling before Naruto set her down "it looks like someone has been digging" she said as she walked over, noticing a shovel standing up in a pile of rubble.

"Hold on a second, according to my GPS this is only 20 yards from Fruitmeir's. Which would put it directly under Crystal Cove's bank!" she said as the others caught on.

"But like dude, why would a slime mutant bust a hole through Fruitmeir's and then a bank?" Shaggy said with a frown.

"Maybe he's hungry" Scooby said as Naruto smirked.

"For money, a rather human craving wouldn't you say?" he asked the others as Velma smirked.

"I smell a trap coming. I hope you're feeling up to leading a monster around Naruto" Velma said as Naruto chuckled, already loosening up his muscles.

"Oh I'm more than ready" he said with a smirk, always ready to bait a stupid person in a monster suit.

Fred, being the expert at traps that he was, easily was able to set up the trap in a matter of a few minutes. The over complexity of it was a bit worrying but Naruto's job was to lure the monster over and if it got out of the trap capture it himself.

He sighed slightly as he hated waiting for the monster appear, choosing to hide behind the barrels of what he hoped wasn't actual radioactive material before he heard the same growl from the day before.

"Well, you really aren't a looker are you?" he asked as he hopped up on top of the pyramid of barrels with a smirk before he immediately crouched down as it fired a blob of its material at him.

"Testy as well I see. With a face like that I'd be angry too!" he taunted as he back flipped off the barrels to avoid its extended limb trying to grab him. He had to backflip a few more times, thankful that it was easy to read, before he turned around and started to run while it chased after him in a quick but limping pace.

He continued to lead the monster along, dodging lobbed blobs of its goo and its claws before he reached the start of the Rube Goldberg type trap that Fred had started.

His eyes widened a bit as he felt himself slip, quickly looking down to see the monster had sent a carpet of slime towards him to trip him up. Before it sent him sliding into the small lake in the cavern.

'Crap! Freaking monster! He's so lucky I have a waterproof case on my phone!' he yelled mentally as he quickly swam back up only to sweat drop as he saw Fred, Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby all trapped in the cage as Velma was now running away from the monster.

"Naruto! Go help Velma! We'll get out of here soon!" Fred yelled as he nodded, slicking his hair back as he quickly chased after the monster who had just jumped back up the hole leading to Fruitmeir's.

The second he got up there he could already see that Velma was in danger as the monster had bound her legs. Running through the kitchen he grabbed the extra-long hose that connected to the dessert machine as he jumped up on the counter with a glare.

"Get away from her you creep!" Naruto yelled as he pushed off of the counter, using it as a springboard before he copied a move he had seen in an old kung fu movie 'Return of the Green Beast' called the Dynamic Entry.

It was basically a double legged flying kick.

Thankfully though it seemed to work and catch the monster off guard as his feet slammed into the monster's chest, sending him flying across the room and into the opposite wall before he came to a skidding stop next to Velma.

The second he righted himself he quickly aimed the hose at the monster and turned it on, blasting it with a torrent of frozen dessert that stuck it to the wall before tossing the hose down and looked towards Velma.

"Are you okay Velma?" he asked as he tore off the binding on her ankles before he brushed the hair away from her face, slightly stroking her cheek.

"Y-Yeah I'm fine, it didn't get me besides my legs" Velma said, a bit in awe at how heroically he had saved her, even going as far as to flying kick it in an act to protect her. A slight blush came to her cheeks as she felt his wet thumb, as he had recently taken a dip in the cavern's pond, softly stroke against her cheek before the others came back.

"What is going on here!?" Sheriff Stone yelled as he and Mayor Jones burst into the store, making Velma jump and scoot away in a mix of embarrassment and shock before she realized he meant the monster stuck to the wall.

"And why is the town's newest tourist attraction cocooned to the wall?" Mayor Jones said as Fred held up his hands to calm his father down.

"Dad, Sheriff, hold on. You don't understand, that is not a monster" Fred said as Naruto helped Velma back up to her feet with a smile.

"Oh hobbing steam clams Freddie then who is it?" the mayor asked with a frown.

"Franklin Fruitmeir" all but Naruto said as he wasn't quite sure who it was and the fear of if it was a clown behind the mask set in.

"He was trying to rob Crystal Cove bank" Velma said as Sheriff Stone frowned.

"That's impossible because Franklin Fruitmeir was the one who called us" he said as he stepped aside and Mr. Fruitmeir walked in, causing Naruto to slightly freeze up.

"What?" the gang all asked in confusion as Velma held onto Naruto's wrist, slightly calming him down.

"I was making a clipper ship out of circus balloons when the silent alarm went off at my home" he said before looking towards the monster. "Oh good gracious, what is that?" he asked as Shaggy frowned and walked up.

"Like dude if this isn't Franklin Fruitmeir then like, who is it?" he asked as Scooby went up and pulled off the mask.

"Professor Emanuel Raffalo?!" they said in confusion as once the mask was pulled away it revealed the professor they had come to for help yesterday.

"That's right! I was trying to scare people away from the sewers while I dug my way into the bank and got rich!" he said as Daphne frowned.

"But you got a job as a teacher? Why do you need more money?" she asked as he just gave her a blank and immensely tired look that quickly made them understand.

"I discovered that the Crystal Cove caves were connected to the sewer by accident while collecting mold spores for my class. Once I realized that it led right under the bank I put my plan into motion. Fruitmeir's gave me secret access to the sewer so I decided to frame balloon boy for the crime by using his disgusting dessert. I staged my disappearance to throw doubt on any hint of my involvement" Professor Raffalo explained as he frowned.

"It was fool-proof! Genius! That is until you, you…" he said unsure of the right words before the sheriff cleared his throat.

"Meddling" he said as Raffalo nodded.

"Right! Meddling kids and your blasted dog ruined everything!" he said before the sheriff took him away.

"But wait, what about this locket we found where you were digging?" Daphne asked, holding up the golden magnifying glass shaped locket that bore a question mark on it.

"Never seen it before in my life" the professor said as he was put in the back of the cop car while Naruto swore he saw some recognition on the Mayor's face before he let out a sneeze from still being drenched in water.

"Oh, Mr. Fruitmeir? Do you think my friend here could borrow a uniform so he can get out of his wet clothes?" Velma asked as she put her hands on Naruto's arms to keep him from possibly running from the close proximity to a clown.

"Of course! You did save my store and myself from possibly being incriminated. Take whatever bits of uniform you need since I wouldn't want your friend to get a cold" Mr. Fruitmeir said as Velma smiled and led Naruto towards the employee changing room while the Sheriff and the Mayor 'scolded' the others.

"You get changed in the bathroom attached," Velma said as she picked up various pieces of the male uniforms, which consisted of light green pants and a darker green button up shirt "you'll have to wear your wet boxers but at least your sandals aren't ruined" she said as he smiled, shivering a bit from the cold.

"Thanks Velma" he said before turning his head away from her, sneezing into the sleeve of his shirt.

"No problem, now go get changed and put your wet clothes in this plastic bag" she said as she picked up a random empty bag that was sticking out of one of the employee lockers.

Velma watched and sat down on one of the chairs as Naruto walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. She knew it might be a bit for him to get out of the drenched clothes but she didn't care.

She blushed a bit as she noticed a spare women's uniform on the table next to her, her mind recalling how Naruto said she would have looked great in it and her curiosity made her wonder how she would look as well and if it would live up to the image in his head.

'I-I guess I have a few minutes to change and try it on. Naruto is getting out of wet and heavy clothes' she thought as she stood up and nervously started to change into it, going a bit fast as she would be too embarrassed if Naruto walked back in while she was midway into changing.

As she finished changing, thankful that she was able to do it before Naruto had been able to, she blushed a bit as she looked in front of the mirror. The skirt, just like when Shaggy and Scooby tried it on, was quite short as it nearly showed her panties. It also squeezed her chest a bit, making her C cup chest look a bit bigger than it actually was.

Her blush grew as she heard a whistle behind her to see a smiling Naruto looking at her from the door to the bathroom "So I was right, you do look amazing in it" he said with a chuckle for as much as he hated clowns he had to hand it to him for making an amazing uniform.

It showed off every bit of Velma or made it look even better from showing off her long legs, squeezing as well as showing off a bit of her butt, and made her breasts look even better. He wished he could take a photo but his phone was with his wet clothes in the bag and he doubted Velma would be brave enough to let him take one.

"Y-You really need to get your eyes checked. This dress is more for someone with Daphne's figure" she said as he started to walk towards her. She felt her cheeks heat up a bit more as he looked her over a few more times before he cupped her cheek with a warm smile.

"That is nonsense Velma, you look absolutely beautiful and stunning in this. I doubt Daphne has the curves that you do" he said as he looked into her soft green eyes.

Velma's head slightly short-circuited as this was the most direct thing that Naruto has ever really said to her. She honestly didn't know what to do next so her body did the first thing it thought of.

Run.

She grabbed her clothes off of the table and ran into the women's restroom with a massive blush on her cheeks before she closed the door and sat down on the tile floor, fanning her face as she would have to think over what he could have actually meant later. Her insecurities winning inside as they made her doubt his words meant what she thought they did.

Naruto, back in the employee room frowned, a bit worried that he might have gone too far. "Velma? Are you okay? If I creeped you out please just forget about it-No!" he said before Velma interrupted him with a sudden yell.

"I-I mean it didn't creep me out Naruto. I was just surprised by the compliment...did you really mean it?" she asked as she wanted to know if he really meant it so her insecurities could stop nibbling at her.

Naruto smiled as he turned around, leaning back against the door with a smile as a soft chuckle escaped his lips "I meant every word I said Velma" he said as he heard her giggle slightly from behind the door.

Velma couldn't stop the happy smile from growing on her face as she should have known he meant it. Naruto was always the kind to speak what was on his mind at times.

"Are you still coming over tonight like planned earlier?" he asked as she chuckled.

"Of course, someone has to make sure you don't catch a cold or anything. Just let me get changed out of this first" she said as he nodded with a smile.

"Sounds good but too bad I didn't get to take a picture. You do look really great in that" he said as she blushed more from behind the door.

"You need to get your eyes checked" she said as he laughed.

"My eyes are perfectly fine thank you very much. Plus I doubt I could make glasses look as good as you" he said as she had to muffle a groan into her clothes.

"What is with you and complimenting me today?" she asked, a blush still coloring her cheeks.

"I don't know, maybe the flying kick I did gave me more adrenaline than I thought but feel like answering things honestly right now" he said with a chuckle as he looked up at the ceiling. "Recently I've also come to the decision I'm not going to hide my feelings or what I think anymore. I don't want things to pass me by because I bit my tongue too much or that I didn't go for it and tell someone how I feel" he said as he got up off the ground.

"I'll be waiting for you in the main shop so I don't embarrass you by talking while you change" he said as Velma heard the door to the employee area open and close.

She frowned a bit as she hugged her clothes to her chest, her mind analyzing what he could have meant and just how much was he keeping inside of himself. Could he possibly have been doing the same as her, pushing down her feelings?

Her frown turned into a smile as the budding hope that had started growing in her from the night before was growing more and more. Of course she'd have to be 100 percent sure before doing anything since if she was wrong and she made a fool of herself or ruined their friendship it would be too painful for her.

She sighed as she decided to try and figure all this out later, not wanting to leave Naruto waiting for too long as she started to get changed. Thankfully it didn't take too long to get out of before she walked out of the employee room just as she saw Naruto saying goodbye to the others as they left, only the sheriff sticking around, most likely to lock up for Mr. Fruitmeir since the clown was nowhere to be seen.

Velma couldn't help but get a bit mad as Shaggy hadn't even waited behind to say goodbye to her or even check to see if she was okay after being attacked by Professor Raffalo. 'He's supposed to be my boyfriend and he doesn't even seem to remember me most of the time' she frowned before she felt Naruto's still slightly damp arm around her with a smile.

"You ready to leave? The sheriff has to lock up so I think we'd better go so he can go home" he said with a chuckle as Velma couldn't keep her frown and smiled with a nod.

"Sure, let's get back so you can take a warm shower to keep getting a cold" she said as Naruto gave the sheriff a salute while they left the store.

 **-Naruto's Apartment-**

Naruto couldn't help but let out a relaxed sigh as they walked into the apartment, thankful it was warmer than the outside. "I'm going to get the water running for you so you can take a shower so hurry up and grab your clothes" she said as he chuckled, long since use to her 'mother hen' like tendencies whenever it came to making sure he didn't get sick.

"I got it, don't worry" he said as he walked towards his room only to frown as he noticed an envelope sitting on the table that wasn't there when he left. Only two people had keys to his place besides him and they were Velma and her mother and Velma's mom at least respected his privacy to snoop when he was at home, being that he wasn't her kid.

The envelope was blank, only a wax seal bearing the number nine imprinted on it.

He frowned as he opened it, careful not to break the wax seal too much, and pulled out the letter.

" _Dear Mr. Uzumaki,_

 _I do hope this letter hasn't startled you too much. I much rather would have liked to talk to you in person but that cannot be done at this time as it would endanger you too much._

 _I am a member of a clan of people in charge of looking after a certain red roped bound shrine, one I think you are familiar with. The shrine keeps calling out to you and our bindings aren't working nearly as well as they use to._

 _I am sorry that I cannot say much more but know that a change will happen soon in your life, one I hope you can handle. My clan and I will try to help as much as we can._

 _But whatever you do, do not trust the men in suits that will come bearing the same words as I. They want you for what you are._

 _Stay safe,_

 _9'_

Naruto widened his eyes as he read over the letter a few more times, a cold sweat breaking out on him before he quickly slipped it back into the envelope and into his pocket just as Velma poked her head back out of the bathroom.

"Come on Naruto, the water is ready. Go take you shower" she said as she walked out and towards his living room.

"Right, sorry. I was kind of spacing out there it seems" he said with a chuckle as he worked to hide his slight worry.

'If whoever the hell sent this is talking the truth, which I fear he is since he mentioned something I've only told Velma, then what the hell is he meaning by a change and men in suits?' he thought with a frown as he decided to look more into it later.

Right now he just wanted to relax and spend time with the girl he loved. He'd worry about it all in the morning.

 **-Chapter End-**

Okay some of you are probably wondering "Why are you posting more stories when you have ones needing to be updated?" and the answer is because this account has no schedule AND recently my drive to write has been taking hits.

Working on new stories seems to recharge my batteries a good bit so I want to do it on this account since I have the freedom to do so.

Doesn't mean I have abandoned any of my stories on here, it's just with how I have been recently I need to let my drive heal before I focus on those.

I hope you all understand and like this and the other story I just posted

Till the Next Time

Drop a review!

See Ya!


	2. Chapter 2

**Fox of Crystal Cove**

 **Chapter 2**

 _ **Contributor: DragonPony022**_

Naruto frowned a bit as for once his recurring dream seemed to change. He had been spending the last week since the Fruitmeir incident rereading the letter and trying to find anything he could about the shrine.

Of course he had done this long before and found nothing so still finding nothing was at least consistent.

The dream had started the same, him in front of the shrine as the eye and smile greeted him only it continued after that.

He saw people wearing monk and shrine maiden style outfits rushing towards the shrine, carrying new red ropes that now had paper streamers attached to them as they tried to wrap the shrine up with them only for them to instantly burn up to ash.

The people were clearly yelling out things by the way their mouths moved but he couldn't hear what they were saying or even see what their faces looked like as everything of their face besides their nose and mouths were covered in shadow.

" _A deal has been made, I intend to call it in and get my freedom!_ " the voice yelled before his eyes shot open, bringing him back to the real world.

He let out a sigh as he noticed it was still dark in his apartment. 'Great, now these stupid dreams can mess with my sleep' he thought with a frown as he felt someone hold onto him tighter and nuzzle their head against him, making his frown morph into a smile as he saw Velma holding onto him in her sleep.

Ever since Fruitmeir's things between the two of them have been slowly changing. He guessed it started all with the night after the Fruitmeir's event. They had stayed up a bit late watching some movies before going to be bedroom to finish studying as Velma was very intent on making sure he didn't have to repeat any grades.

They both had started to drift off while they sat on his bed, Velma eventually getting to her usual sleeping spot, which was laying on his chest, was when things got a bit weird but oddly not entirely awkward.

He was really out of it due to all the studying and how late they had stayed up that the second Velma fell against him to use him as pillow his hands reached out and, well, grabbed her butt. He only remembered a bit of what happened after being that he was half awake but she didn't move or even slap him.

It might have been because she was falling asleep or something but she never did react, only nuzzle her head against his chest as they both fell asleep. Of course when he woke up first he took his hands off her butt, though it didn't stop him from enjoying the feeling for a little bit before removing them.

He didn't know why or how it happened but the same thing kept happening every morning. He'd always wake up before her, see his hands there, again, and remove them just as she woke up. He didn't know if it was because of the fact Velma had been spending the nights and occasionally time after school with him or that his body was acting on the impulses he wanted to do but couldn't because she was 'dating' Shaggy but it kept occurring.

And true enough his hands were on her butt again.

'As much as I love this I have really got to stop. What if she wakes up before me one day and sees that and then calls me a pervert or something' he thought with a mental groan as he ran his hand through his hair as best as he could without jostling Velma.

'I need more sleep, stupid dream waking me up' he thought, letting out a soft sigh as he gently wrapped his arms around Velma, who nuzzled against him more, getting comfortable before his eyes weighed down and he fell back to sleep.

Velma smiled contently as she was woken up by the light peeking through Naruto's window. She looked up and chuckled as even with her terrible eyesight she could see Naruto's face as he slightly drooled in his sleep.

She blushed slightly as she felt his hands again on her butt as his hands twitched, slightly groping her. The first time she had felt him grab her butt she almost yelled at him before she quickly noticed he was asleep and doing it in his sleep.

And every morning of the week she had been basically staying over the night for she always woke up before him to feel his hands back on her butt. Plus in his sleep his hands twitched a lot the closer he got to waking up.

She wondered if it was happening because of the way they slept but knew it wasn't as it was a way they had been sleeping as since they were little kids and shared a bed after her parents took him in. She had quickly become accustomed to using him as a pillow to the point she had difficulties sleeping without laying on something of similar size.

Not even a full sized body pillow helped all that much, hence the reason she stayed over so much besides wanting to spend time with her closest friend.

She knew that with her dating Shaggy she shouldn't quite enjoy this as much as she was but with a boyfriend who cared more about a dog than about her she felt it wasn't that bad. Plus the fact that Naruto was asleep and not wide awake told her it wasn't like he was purposefully doing it.

Though every morning, just as he was waking up where she would act asleep, she felt him take his hands off her butt so he at least knew he was doing it in his sleep. A part of her hoped he would maybe touch her when he was awake but she always had to shake that thought away as it wasn't good to think that way.

No matter how little affection she got from her boyfriend who was afraid of what his dog would think.

She was brought out of her thoughts as she felt Naruto stir and his hands twitch a bit, meaning he was about to wake up, before she quickly laid her head back down to act asleep.

Naruto groaned slightly as he woke up before he quickly stopped as he didn't want to wake up Velma. He let out a quiet sigh as he looked down to see his hands there again on her butt. 'Okay this is just getting bothersome. As much as I love having my hands here if she wakes up first I'd be screwed' he thought as he pulled his hands away and gently pet Velma's head.

"Velma, wake up. It's morning" he softly said as he watched her eyes open up before she stretched and groaned.

"Morning already? It's too early" she whined out as he chuckled and rubbed her back.

"It's the weekend and it's almost ten so I'd say it's well past early" he said as she rolled her eyes while he handed her glasses over to her.

"It is early when there is no school and no Fred to drag us out of bed with his plans or something so I want to relax more" Velma said as he chuckled and wrapped his arms around her while she looked up at him.

Naruto tried not to look as, with the way they were lying and with her looking up at him, he could clearly see an ample amount of her cleavage. "You're right and what better way to relax than like this" he said with a smile as he stroked her back, getting her to lay back down as the last thing he needed was to get turned on while she was laying down on top of him.

Velma smiled with a faint blush, one that matched the shade on Naruto's cheek after the view he had just had "Whatever you dork" she teased as she moved her hand up and started to draw small circles on his chest as they relaxed together.

"Do you have any plans for today?" Velma asked after a few minutes into their comfortable silence and relaxation.

"Hmmm, besides hanging out with my very a-dork-able best friend who might I add is cuddled up to me like I'm that teddy bear I got her when she was ten, then no I don't have anything planned and that is perfectly okay with me" he said with a smirk as he continued to pet her back.

She couldn't help but smile a bit more as she was glad that he wanted to spend time with her since no one in the group really hung out with her much alone. Daphne was the only one to besides Naruto and even then it was mostly to talk about Fred or go shopping.

Not even her own boyfriend ever seemed to want to ask her to go out on a date or anything but he's perfectly okay with going off with Scooby at the drop of a hat for whatever reason.

She was brought out of her thoughts as she felt Naruto walk two of his fingers up her spine, making her shiver with a slight giggle. "So do you have any plans or what to do anything today? I did just get paid from my job at your parent's tourist shop" he said as she looked up at him with a smile.

"I don't have anything planned either. We could always just hang out here since I don't feel like going out anywhere right now" she said as he smiled and hugged her closer to him.

"Sounds great since a little relaxation will do us good" he said before a blush creeped up on both of their cheeks, not that the other could see, as Velma's chest was pressing up against him hard due to how close he was hugging her.

She smiled up at him, quickly noticing the blush but not saying anything as her pride as a female went up a bit knowing that her body could actually affect him like this. She let out a slight giggle as she nodded "Yeah, that sounds like a great way to enjoy the weekend" she said as he smiled back and lessened his hug around her.

Velma's smile lasted for the next few hours as so far her day had consisted of relaxing with her friend on his bed, him making a delicious breakfast for the both of them and then enjoying some tv on the couch, her using his lap as a pillow, while she read a book.

It made her slightly wonder with how nice this all was while Naruto pet her head if this was how most couples acted. It made her wonder how things normally would go if two people their age were home alone wearing their pajamas all day. The thought made her cheeks grow dark red as she quickly shook it off, slightly confusing Naruto who just shrugged it off and kept petting her head.

'I honestly can't think like that. He's just a really good friend' she thought to herself but even she wasn't convinced by that too much as with how close the two of them have been getting. The fantasy of Naruto possibly having feelings for her was gradually becoming less and less fantasy in her mind.

Her thoughts were interrupted as her phone started to ring on the table before Naruto picked it up and handed it to her. She frowned slightly as she saw it was Fred before she answered "Hello?" she asked as she was already expecting him to ask them to come hang out.

" _Hey Velma I was calling to see if you and the rest of the gang wanted to hang out at my house for a bit. Things have been slow recently with no new mysteries so it feels lonely_ " Fred said as Velma rubbed her chin.

"One second Fred" she said as she covered the receiver with her hand as she looked up at Naruto. "It's Fred, he wants to know if we wanted to come over" she told him as he continued to pet her hair while looking down at her.

"If that's what you want I'm down for it. Though it is getting kind of late and raining so it'd probably be a late night thing" Naruto said as Velma didn't mind, she got to spend the majority of the day relaxing so going out now wasn't that bad.

"Hey Fred you still there?" Velma asked as she uncovered the receiver and held the phone against her ear.

" _Yeah I'm still here, so you down to come over?_ " Fred asked as she smiled.

"Sure, I'll be right over and I'll go and grab Naruto as well on my way over" she said as no one really in the group knew how she often spent the night over at his house and she didn't want them to get that much of the wrong impression.

" _Sounds great, see you guys when you get here_ " Fred said as he hung up before Velma did as well while she looked up at Naruto.

"Well I guess we have to change out of our pajamas" he said with a chuckle as she nodded.

"It was pretty nice while it lasted" Velma said with a smile as she sat up and stretched a bit. "I'm going to get changed in your room first, does that sound okay?" she asked as he nodded.

"Go ahead it's not like we're in a rush" he said as he got up from the couch and popped the kinks out of his back as he couldn't help but stare at her butt as she walked away until she quickly turned back around, mouth open to say something before he had to look away.

Velma let the words on her tongue die off as a blush grew on her cheeks as her hands instinctively went to her butt as she realized Naruto had been staring at it while she was leaving. She felt an odd mix of joy and embarrassment from having him stare before she realized was but of an awkward silence.

"I-I'm actually going to take a shower first so you can get changed first" Velma said before she quickly ran off to his room to get her clothes before he saw her run off into the bathroom.

He couldn't help but fall back onto the couch for a second and laugh at the embarrassing moment of being caught staring. 'Well at least she didn't get angry or yell at me. I just hope she isn't angry at me or anything' he thought with a sigh as it was very difficult not to squeeze the thing that had hypnotized him since middle school.

Plus add on to the fact that it was in his hands every morning only made it more difficult but he was determined to wait until he either found the time to confess or for when and if they ever got together.

He let out a sigh as he got back up and went to his room, changing out of his clothes while waiting for Velma to get done with her shower which didn't take too long before they both left for Fred's house, acting as if nothing happened.

 **-A Few Hours Later-**

 **-Fred's House-**

"We should have stayed at home" Velma groaned as she plopped down on the armchair that Naruto was leaning against.

"Yeah, there was a better view there for sure" he said with a smirk as he turned his head and looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

Velma blushed as she rolled up the magazine she was reading and bopped him on the head making him chuckle as he turned his attention to Fred, who was oddly building a trap in front of his door.

"Fred, who are you honestly expecting to trap out there unless Shaggy ordered another pizza?" he asked as it wouldn't be out of Shaggy's character since he had ordered three separate pizzas in the last two hours.

Before Fred could even answer the doorbell rang and the trap went off "Oh, I guess we'll see!" Fred said as Naruto looked towards Shaggy, who shrugged his shoulders showing he didn't do it this time.

"Uh package for Fred Jones" the delivery man said as he hung upside down from the trap.

"Hey that's me!" Fred said as he took the package and slammed the door before walking back towards the couch and disabling the trap, letting the delivery man crash back onto the ground with a loud thud.

Everyone who was up followed him back towards the couch as he sat down and set down the package on the table.

"What is it?" Scooby asked as Shaggy scratched his chin.

"Like, um, I think it's a box" Shaggy said as Naruto buried his face in his hand with a groan.

"No shit Sherlock, Scooby was asking what's in it" Naruto said as he and everyone else gave Shaggy a dry look before Fred opened it to reveal something wrapped in cloth with a pink note on top before Velma picked it up.

"It's from Mr. E" Velma said as while she and Naruto weren't there for the original call but apparently after Fruitmeir's, where everyone went to hang out with Angel, the station had got a call from a 'Mr. E' about a curse of crystal cove and how with Daphne recovering the locket she had started something that should have stayed buried.

Naruto didn't know how he felt about the mysterious man warning them but if anything he'd be on guard about him.

"It says 'Saved this for a rainy day, enjoy'" Velma read as Daphne shivered.

"Mr. E gives me the creeps" she said as Fred reached into the package. "Wait Fred it could be a bomb...oh strike that, cute purse" she added as Fred pulled out some kind of lizard skin purse that he handed to Velma.

"Gang check it out, '100% pure gator. Made in Gatorsburg'" he read from the tag on the back.

"Gatorsburg?" Scooby asked confused as Daphne frowned.

"That's impossible. Gatorsburg hasn't produced gator products in decades" Daphne said as Velma nodded

"Not since the gator mines ran dry" Velma said as she set down the purse.

"Gator mines?" Scooby asked as Velma nodded.

"Gatorsburg was a boom town back in the 1800's that was famous for the amount of alligators that it had, more than any in the world. It grew by selling gator skin products and that was their main resource. It wasn't until the alligator 'wells' dried up did the town die off and is now a ghost town" she said as Shaggy looked at the bag confused.

"But Freddie it says it was made in Gatorsburg" he said as Scooby sniffed it.

"It smells new" Scooby said as Fred smiled.

"Well gang we have a mystery on our hands" Fred said everyone but Naruto and Velma cheered and rushed off to the van.

"We should have stayed home. As much as I like mysteries I'd rather not go to an empty town that may or may not still have alligators" he said as Velma chuckled. "I mean we could be relaxing on the couch watching that new show you like" Naruto said as he stood up just as the trap went off capturing everybody, something he knew was going to happen the second they ran out.

"I mean you could have been relaxing at home wearing those cute little pajama shorts you bought recently, the ones with the periodic table on them." he said as she looked at him with a raised eyebrow and a slight blush on her cheeks.

"The table is on the butt of those though" she said as he smirked at her and winked.

"I know, I've been meaning to memorize it for a while now" he teased as her blush increased and she gave him playful shove.

"Oh really? I was thinking about buying a new pair I saw the other day. They were these little ones with clowns on them" she said as he froze and shook his head at her.

"Not cool" he said as she laughed and smiled a bit proud of the fact that Naruto sort of admitted to staring at her ass as well as the fact she was able to 'win' their little teasing battle since normally he always was the one that made her nervous.

"Whatever, let the others down so we can leave for Gatorsburg" she said as he rolled his eyes and took the pocket knife out of his pocket and cut the rope so it wouldn't accidently trap anyone else.

Velma chuckled as she opened the door to see their friends crash down onto the ground "Well come on guys, let's get going" she said as they got up and headed for the van again with Naruto and her following behind though Velma figured he was looking again to make a point, though she oddly didn't care as the gang got into the Mystery Machine.

Naruto frowned as the drive into Gatorsburg was the very definition of eerie as the river that ran around the town was glowing green and all the plant life around the town was dead. He was a bit confused as the sign driving in read 'Population: 3' after the real number that use to be on the sign was scratched out and the three was written in red paint.

As they pulled into the town square he noticed the creepy statue in the center before they got out of the van.

"This is what happens when a civilization is founded on an entirely gator based economy" Velma said as they looked around a bit.

"Alright gang, let's split up and look for clues" Fred said as he and Daphne walked off one way leaving the four of them left.

"What do you say Shaggy? Want to go clue hunting with me?" Velma asked as she hugged Shaggy's arm while she shook the events with Naruto a bit out of her head since she was still dating Shaggy.

"Velma, come on. Like not in front of Scoob" Shaggy said as he pulled her off of him and moved her over making Naruto clench his fist at how stupid Shaggy was acting with more being worried for Scooby as usual instead of showing affection to his girlfriend.

Naruto rolled his eyes as he stood next to Scooby as the dog sniffed the weird gator statue that had a baby jumping around in the open mouth of one before it chomped down. "I didn't touch it!" Scooby said worriedly as Naruto nodded, patting the dog on the back.

"Relax I know" Naruto said with a chuckle as Shaggy walked over.

"Hey Scoob, like how about we go check out Gator Burger" Shaggy said as both he and Scooby ran off towards the diner.

"Great so it seems I'm third on the list below Scooby and food" Velma muttered as he draped his arm over her shoulder.

"The guy's brain is in his stomach I swear" he said as she laughed dryly as they followed the two towards the old diner before they watched them jump over the counter towards the still wrapped burgers.

"Like jackpot Scooby-Doo!" Shaggy said as he unwrapped one of the moldy looking burgers that the meat that looked like a whole baby alligator before shrugging his shoulders and biting into it.

He was a bit grossed out as Velma moved his arm off her politely and walked over to Shaggy before tapping him on the shoulder. "We need to talk" she said in a clearly upset tone as Shaggy set down his burger.

"Like Velma I would love to but like I can't hear anything over the sound of my own stomach," he said as he held up his shirt and put his hands around his stomach "it's going 'like maybe give me a triple with cheese and chili and like a pickle'" he said as he moved his stomach around like it was talking.

"You know what, forget it, Naruto and I are going to look elsewhere" Velma said as she grabbed Naruto's wrist and started pulling him out of the diner.

"Velma wait up! Velma what did I do?" Shaggy asked as he followed them out before Velma let go of his wrist.

"Nothing! You didn't do anything! Come on Naruto let's go" she said a bit loud as she walked off a bit while Shaggy frowned.

"So me not doing anything is the thing you are mad about?" Shaggy asked confused as Naruto rolled his eyes at his friend's denseness.

"You really don't know anything about girls do you?" Naruto asked rhetorically as he followed after Velma, wrapping his arm around her waist before he pulled her close to him to try and calm her down.

He didn't care if Shaggy was watching behind as he rubbed her side as they walked, acting a bit more intimately than he normally did as he somewhat wanted to show Shaggy how a boyfriend should act, though he doubted the teen noticed since to others he and Velma were just good friends.

"Easy there Velma. Let's go check out this book store. Maybe there's something interesting in there" he said as he held her close, letting her rest her head against him as they walked towards an old broken looking bookstore but as they walked in they found that only the outside was trashed.

The inside was, besides a thick layer of dust, was still standing quite nicely.

"Wow they have a lot of books here. Who knew Gatorsburg had things like this" Velma said as he chuckled.

"It was a boom town in the 1800's so it's been around for a while even if it did crash" he said as he walked down a row of bookshelves as Velma stayed near the front before he tripped on a raised floorboard, only barely catching himself as he fell with a slight crash.

"Are you okay Naruto?" Velma asked as she looked over after the crash to see him lying on the ground as he pushed himself up.

"Yeah I'm fine just fell on a stupid loose boa-oh hello what is this?" he said as he noticed the board had been completely pulled out by him tripping on it and there was a hidden compartment underneath.

"What is in there?" Velma asked as she moved over towards him as he pulled a large old looking book from the hole.

It was a very old looking leather bound book. The cover read 'Clan of Nine' with the spine merely reading 'Three' on it with a circle that had a spiral in it at the bottom.

He didn't know what exactly about the book felt off but as he flipped through some pages he widened his eyes slightly as there was a drawing of the same shrine that he had seen in his dreams with the name 'Nine' under it before he slammed the book shut.

"What? What was in the book?" Velma asked as she had only seen Naruto this freaked out when there was a clown nearby.

"Nothing, I just thought I saw something familiar in it. I think I'm going to take this with me, I mean it's not like they would care since only three people live here" he said as Velma frowned but didn't have time to push it as Fred called out to them to come back.

"Let's go gang! There's nothing to trap here!" Fred said as they started to walk back to the Mystery Machine. "It seems Mr. E sent us on a wild goose chase" he said as they got inside, Daphne and Shaggy taking the front with Fred while he Velma and Scooby sat in the back.

"More like a wild gator chase" Shaggy said with a chuckle as Fred tried to start the van only for no noise at all to come out as the engine didn't even seem to try and turn over.

"Hmm, that's weird" Fred said with a frown as they got out of the van, Naruto leaving the book there as they went around to the front of the van before Fred opened the hood.

"Can you tell what the problem is Fred?" Daphne asked as Fred frowned.

"Well you see that hole there?" Fred asked as he pointed his flashlight at the empty inside of the van "That should be an engine" he added before a loud roar of an engine flared behind them before they turned to see a large tow truck pull up to them.

Naruto frowned as a large muscular man stepped out of the tow truck, his instincts forcing him to move Velma behind him as the man stomped over to them. "You kids are in some serious trouble" the man said as he walked towards Fred. "Care to tell me what you are doing in Gatorsburg!?" he yelled as he picked Fred up by the collar of his shirt.

"Our van broke down so put him down and I don't know, do your job" Naruto growled out as he grabbed the man's wrist and squeezed it tightly.

"Yeah maybe you can take a look at it" Fred said as the man glared at Fred.

"And why should I help you?!" the man said as Velma rolled her eyes.

"Because you're, a mechanic" she said flatly as the man sighed.

"Touché" he said as he let go of Fred before walking over to van before he opened the hood. After a few minutes he closed the hood and started wiping his hands of imaginary grease.

"Here's your problem, your engine's missing" he said as Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Yes we know that already pretty much anyone with eyes can. Can you get us a new one?" Naruto asked as the man nodded, not acknowledging the jab at him.

"I can but I'd have to order it from Crystal Cove and seeing how it's more than three miles away it won't arrive until morning" he said as Shaggy frowned.

"You mean we're stuck in this creepy abandoned gator town all night?" Shaggy asked as Velma, Fred and Daphne all dialed their parents as Naruto leaned against the van as most of the time his only ride anywhere was the Mystery Machine or Velma's mom.

He frowned as they all hung up with and shook their heads. "No luck?" he asked as Velma sighed and leaned next to him.

"You know how it is with mom when it comes to race night" she said as he draped his arm over her shoulder and held her close, letting her rest her head on his shoulder while Shaggy dialed his parents before reaching the voice mail.

"Seems like we are stuck here for the whole night" Naruto said as Velma walked off and smiled at Shaggy, deciding to try and use this as a chance for her to maybe work on her relationship with him.

"Yeah it seems like we are" Velma said with a hopeful smile before Scooby butted in between them.

"And Scooby-Dooby too!" Scooby said as Velma frowned and crossed her arms while Shaggy acted like it was great with a smile.

"Don't suppose you can recommend a hotel?" Fred asked as the mechanic started to hook up his tow chain to the Mystery Machine.

"My sister Greta runs the best in town, the Drowsy Gator" he said pointing to the building that was glowing red with neon lights as a pink neon sign hung from it.

Naruto followed the others as they walked to it while the mechanic towed the machine over there ahead of them. "Great, crappy hotel. I'll say it again, we could've stayed home" he said as Velma elbowed him with a smirk.

"Come on it hasn't been that bad" she said as he shrugged his shoulders

"Fine but I still wouldn't take any showers here if you know what I mean" he said as he made a stabbing motion with a 'wree' noise as Velma rolled her eyes with a chuckle as they met back up with the mechanic in front of the inn.

"Oh and a word of advice, don't leave your rooms" the mechanic said before he quickly drove off leaving them and their van in front of the Drowsy Gator.

Naruto felt a bit off as they walked into the hotel as eerie piano music flowed through the front desk room. All the gator decorations did not help set the mood any lighter while Fred rang the bell to call for service before having to ring it a few more times when no one came.

"We ain't got no rooms" a woman's voice said as they turned around to see an older woman leaning against the archway leading to another room while she twirled a lock of her red hair around her finger.

"But the sign in your window says vacancy" Fred said as the woman frowned.

"That sign's broken" she said as she puffed up her hair.

"It's a painted sign" Velma said in a flat tone as the woman groaned softly before turning towards them full to reveal her eyes were a bit lazy, though no one really mentioned it.

"Gunther! We got guests!" she yelled as a very tall, taller than any of them, and stingy man, his arms almost swinging from side to side, scurried over towards them. His hair covered his right eye as his teeth almost seemed to be all points like, well, a gator.

"Weeeell, heeeello" he said in an airy drawn out tone as he smiled at them.

"This is my son, Gunther Gator, and I'm Greta Gator" she said as Naruto cleared his throat.

"So can we have our rooms now?" Naruto asked as he definitely didn't like the two rather creepy people as they randomly started to laugh before walking past them.

"We don't get many guests here at the Drowsy Gator" Greta said as she guided them up the stairs.

"Shocker" Velma said as she stuck close to Naruto since out of the group he was the most able to keep any of them safe.

As they walked through the hallway Naruto frowned as he saw a massive tear in the wall before Shaggy pointed it out "Like are those claw marks?" he asked as Greta looked at it and frowned.

"I don't see any marks" she said dismissing it as if it was nothing before going back to leading them to their rooms.

Naruto rose an eyebrow as he reached in the tear and pulled out a large claw before stashing it in his pocket.

"I got a few hotel rules," Greta said as she opened the door to one of the rooms, letting him Shaggy and Fred walk in before stopping Daphne and Velma "rule number one, boys and girls in different rooms! No exceptions!" she yelled before turning towards Naruto and started to trail her finger down his chest. "Though I can make an exception for you" she purred out as his face grew a little green before he moved her hand away and stepped back a bit.

"No thank you" he said with a shudder as Velma frowned, feeling an odd spike of jealousy and slight anger before looking over at Daphne.

"Then I guess I'm with you Daphne" Velma said as Greta narrowed her eyes.

"I said no exceptions!" Greta yelled as Velma frowned.

"But I'm a girl" Velma said with a bit of annoyance in her tone as Greta frowned.

"Oh, riiight" she said as she walked into the room a bit more, allowing Naruto to drape his arm over Velma.

"Don't let what she said get to you. I don't think she can actually see too well since anyone with two good eyes would be able to see how womanly you are. I mean I can definitely vouch for it given how you look in your pajamas" he said with a smirk as Velma blushed a bit and playfully elbowed him making him chuckle.

"Rule number two, stay in your rooms no matter what you hear. That includes screams, moans, wails, clawing, scratching, and anything that sounds like a body being dragged along a hardwood floor" she said before she moved closer to Naruto again.

"Though you can come and visit me later if you want" she said again as this time it was Velma that moved him back.

"Yeah no thank you, I like to be with a woman I can see eye to eye with" he said with a not so subtle jab at her as her advances were getting nauseating.

"Well it seems like Naruto, you, me, Shaggy, and Scoob are in this room" Fred said trying to change the subject before Greta stopped Scooby from walking in.

"Almost forget, rule number three, no pets in the hotel!" she yelled as Scooby frowned and Gunther creepily chuckled behind him and Velma, causing him to pull her away from him.

"It's okay Scoob, it's only for one night and you can stay in the Mystery Machine" Fred said as Shaggy hugged his dog.

"Yeah it's only one night little buddy. I'll see you in the morning" Shaggy said as Scooby hugged tighter as they sobbed against one another.

Velma could only roll her eyes as she rested her head against his chest from the annoying scene that once again reminded her how her boyfriend was closer with his dog than with her. Her only real comfort from the fact was Naruto as he rubbed her back before they had to separate to go to their rooms which were right across the hall from the other.

"Guess I'll see you in the morning" Naruto said as Velma nodded before Greta and Gunther slammed their doors.

"You know Shag, Naruto, when we all graduate from high school and move in together we can get a room just like this. Do you guys like bunk beds?" Fred asked as he laid on the bed, Naruto taking the couch as Shaggy paced in the room.

"I can't think about that Fred like I'm really worried about Scoob" Shaggy said as Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Really? He's in a vehicle and shouldn't you be worried about the girls since they are kind of separated from us in this creepy hotel?" Naruto said as Shaggy waved it off as if he didn't even care.

"I'd say check on him if not for the fact we were warned to stay in our rooms" Fred said as Shaggy all but bolted from the room as Naruto sighed and decided to go check on the girls since if Shaggy was checking on his dog then someone should check up on the others.

He smirked as he saw Velma walk out of her room as well before bumping into Shaggy.

"Velma!" Shaggy said a bit surprised as Velma smiled at the two of them before looking at Shaggy.

"Were you sneaking over to see me?" she asked as right now her hope that her boyfriend was actually acting like a boyfriend kind of hid Naruto from her view.

"Um...yeah! I wanted to see you but Freddie told I had to go check up on Scooby-Doo so" Shaggy said before Naruto laughed a bit too loud.

"Really? Cause you just were freaking out about Scooby, ignoring my comment on the girls before rushing out" Naruto said as Shaggy widened his eyes and gave him a 'Really?' look.

"What!? Is that true Shaggy?" Velma asked as Shaggy started to stutter before sighing and nodding.

"Yes, I'm sorry but I really do have to check on him" Shaggy said as Velma frowned, slight tears welling up in her eyes as she stormed off and Shaggy looked over at him.

"Dude, like what was that for?" Shaggy said as Naruto frowned and shrugged his shoulders.

"Sorry I've recently decided to speak more honestly and I guess it slipped out" Naruto said in a dry tone as he followed after Velma as Shaggy frowned before running off to check on Scooby, completely ignoring Velma again.

Naruto knew he shouldn't have done that since it was a bit of a dick move. Though in all honestly he didn't care since Shaggy was willing to lie like that to get Velma's hopes up and all he really did was call him out on it while she happened to be in front of them.

He sighed as he heard a door to one of the many open rooms slam before he opened it up to see Velma frowning as she looked at herself in a three part mirror. "Shaggy?" she asked as she turned around to see Naruto.

"Sorry, it's not dog boy but I hope I'm able to help" he said as she turned back around at the mirror.

"Thanks Naruto but you don't have to come running every time I get upset. Why do you even come after me so much! I'm not dating you! I'm with Shaggy so just leave!" she yelled before she bit her lip as she didn't mean to sound so harsh to her best friend. She wouldn't even blame him if he walked away angry.

Though to her surprise as she looked at him in the mirror he wasn't angry or even hurt as he walked up to her before turning her around before cupping her cheek.

"I will always come running to you when you need it Velma, whether you want me or not, I'm kind of stubborn like that. Me being here isn't something I do when it fits my time or my life. Seeing you happy and safe means more to me than anything" he said with a smile as he stroked her cheek with his thumb, wiping off some of the tears that were rolling down.

As he looked her in the eyes he chuckled as he smiled "Did you do something with your hair recently? Whatever you did really highlighted your face and forehead more" he said as she smiled from the compliment, glad that someone noticed besides Daphne.

"At least someone noticed" she said as it was clear to him that she was holding back tears. "Why can't my stupid boyfriend notice?! Am I not attractive enough!?" she asked as she looked up at him.

Naruto frowned as he turned her around to face the mirror, his arms wrapped around her waist as he rested his head on top of hers. "Velma that is ridiculous, you are stunning. Your boyfriend is just more into his dog honestly" he said as Velma frowned.

"Oh really? How am I stunning? Cause if I am then shouldn't my boyfriend see? I don't have a figure like Daphne so I honestly don't see it" she said with a frown as he chuckled.

"He doesn't see what I see. He doesn't see your gorgeous curves. You don't have to be thin to be beautiful. You have a figure that is so full that any woman would kill for and any guy who isn't obsessed with his dog would drool over, myself included" he said as he very slowly slid his hands from her stomach down to her thighs.

"I mean look, your legs are long and your thighs are so luscious and soft" he said in a whisper as he softly stroked them up and down. "Your stomach is in no way fat and still quite lean from when you took martial arts as a kid" he said as he hands trailed up under her sweater as he rubbed her stomach making her blush as she could only let out a squeak.

Velma's mind was overheating as Naruto's hands were under her shirt as she felt him pull her back a bit so her butt was now pressing against his 'lower' body. She was too shocked to react as her best friend of countless years was now stroking her thighs and stomach while she swore she could feel his 'member' erect against her butt.

"N-Naruto, w-what are you doing?" Velma asked out in a slightly squeaky voice from the shock of her best friend's hands traveling over her body.

"I am just showing you how stunning you are Velma" he said softly as she felt his lips softly trail kisses up and down her neck while his hands still continued to explore her body a bit.

She knew she should be stopping this as she was dating someone and that this was wrong but she couldn't muster anything as she could only let out a soft moan as he moved his hands back down to her thighs.

"Also don't forget your butt. It is so much more plump than Daphne's to the point my hands get attracted to it in my sleep" he whispered with a chuckle as he slid his hands under her skirt, tracing around the rim of her panties before her eyes widened as she felt his hands start groping her ass.

"Plus I pretty sure your breasts are much larger than Daphne's" he whispered in her ear as while he didn't move his hands towards them, not wanting to go that far like this as he wanted to save that for if they ever did get together, but he knew they were definitely bigger.

She let out another moan, this time slightly louder as she felt his hands, for the first time while awake, squeeze and grope her ass as he moved his head down towards her neck. She felt her cheeks heat up at the comment on her breasts since she always felt a bit embarrassed about her chest, thinking it was more just fat than anything.

"Oh and your moans, it might be the first time hearing them but they are so sexy" he said as he grazed his lips on her neck, making her moan out his name and him smile massively. "It seems I just found another thing I love about you" he whispered in her ear as he gave her earlobe a soft nibble before her eyes widened in shock.

She felt her heart beat erratically as she looked at him through the mirror "N-Naruto? D-Did you seriously just say that?" she asked as he moved his eyes up from her neck and looked her in the eyes from behind her and nodded.

"That's right Velma. I really do love you. I know I should have chosen a better time but there never has been one. I've loved you for so long Velma. I love everything about you and seeing you unhappy with Shaggy is too much for me to bear " he said with a frown as he buried his face in the back on her neck, trailing soft kisses on it that made her moan again.

"B-But Naruto-" she tried to stutter out, a bit shaken up by the sudden confession before Naruto silenced her with a soft kiss on the base of her neck, making her legs quiver a bit.

"I know you can't answer right now and I don't want you to. I want you to think it over and answer what is in your heart. Answer who you want more" he said as he nibbled on her ear, making her moan loudly as right now he just wanted to make her happy and give her some of the things that Shaggy had neglected to give her.

Her mind was overloaded by everything that was happening, from the affection her best friend was showing her to the confession of love, it had been all too much for her to handle.

Velma watched with a dark red blush as she watched Naruto continue to kiss and nibble on her neck and ears as his hands were still groping her ass all while she could still feel something hard press up against her.

She could only pant and moan as with this being the most she has ever done it was overwhelming but not in a bad way. She knew she shouldn't be doing this with Naruto since she was with Shaggy but a part of her didn't want to tell him to stop.

Naruto smiled as Velma moaned and wiggled in front of him and grinding her butt against, most likely not intentionally in her haze since he could see it in her eyes. He wanted to continue touching her as having her in his hands was amazing but he knew he had to wait to go on, as much as that was hard to do.

"Velma, I love you so much and while I really wish I could show you just how much by showing your body the attention it deserves," he whispered into her ear as he nibbled on her lobe a bit before he turned her around, still groping her ass as she looked up at him weakly softly panting and moaning from everything he was doing to her "I want you to please think this over. I am willing to wait for your decision as long as you need but I have to do one thing since I refuse to let Shaggy have it and I hope you don't hate me for this" he said as Velma looked at him confused, her daze slightly wearing off before her eyes widened as he cupped her cheek and planted his lips on hers.

It was her first kiss, something she had been saving for when Shaggy eventually actually kissed her. A small part of her was angry at him stealing it but the rest of her melted into the kiss as she felt Naruto hold her close to him and deeply kiss her.

She could still even feel his hands slide back down to her butt, stroking and rubbing it as she, in her daze, started to press her lower body against his. Her face was very quickly heating up as she felt his hard member press against her stomach a bit due to their height difference.

Her body almost seemed to act a bit on its own as she grinded against him more as he continued their kiss, the feel of his lips and the intensity of the kiss made her legs quiver as she was about to open her mouth to deepen the kiss before the door burst open and they quickly separated while the entire gang burst in.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked as they quickly slammed the door and Fred put his weight against it to keep it closed.

Velma fell back onto the bed, sitting down as her legs had given out while she looked up at Naruto in slight shock as she was taking in everything he had just said and done to her. She felt her cheeks heat up as her mind wandered to what could have happened if the rest of the group hadn't have busted in. With how things were going and how her self-restraint was failing the thoughts were too much for her as her face turned crimson and she shook them out of her head as she knew she shouldn't be imagining such intimate and intense scenarios in her head and needed to get back to the main point of it.

'H-He loves me? W-What? W-When did this happen?' she thought, her head being in a massive haze as she had honestly never noticed his feelings and questioned if she had just been a bit dense. She couldn't help but smile a little bit while butterflies fluttered in her stomach as the crush she thought would always just be unrequited was quickly becoming more realistic.

And it somewhat made her nervous.

Naruto was her best friend and her crush she has had for a long time, one she had forced herself to give up on as she felt it was unachievable before she chose to date Shaggy. She couldn't just dump Shaggy and move onto Naruto, also she didn't even know if she was brave enough to go for it with Naruto.

And comparing the two didn't even seem fair to Shaggy. Naruto was so caring, passionate and loving with her, more so that Shaggy has been for the combined couple months they had been together for. The way he touched her made almost all of her self-restraint fade away as she had almost opened her mouth to let him deepen their kiss while she grinded on him.

It surprised her that she had actually done that but he was undoubtedly the most handsome guy at school and any girl would do it if given the chance, even herself, the science nerd.

Her insecurities still ate her up inside and she was a bit afraid that he would regret being with her if they did get together. If something went wrong and they broke up she didn't know how she'd handle losing her best and closest friend. Though before her mind could continue running her disaster scenario she was snapped out of it.

"Gator people!" Daphne yelled as Velma, who had shaken off her daze quickly adjusted her glasses and her skirt since it had been hiked up a bit before standing up.

"Come again?" Velma asked with a slight voice crack before clearing her throat as Fred held his finger up to his lip.

Naruto frowned, a bit tense as they stayed silent in the room as Fred pressed his ear against the door, trying to hear what was going on outside.

"Maybe they're gone" Fred said a bit unsure before the power burst and all the lights turned off, making Naruto instinctively reach for Velma's wrist to keep her close.

Thankfully his instincts were right as he quickly pulled her away from near the window just as one giant gator person burst through the window. "Back off you giant handbag!" Naruto yelled as he slammed his foot powerfully into the one gator's face, making him fall out the window, before the gang rushed towards the bathroom to barricade themselves in.

Though just he rushed in he frowned and reached for Fred, pulling him back just as a female looking gator person tried to swipe her claws at him and they ran back towards the room just as the first gator came back in.

"Make your way towards the door very slowly" Fred whispered as they nodded and quietly made their way towards the door.

Just as they were halfway there the ground in front of Velma burst open and a third gator person burst out, grabbing Velma's legs as Naruto, who was still holding her wrist, held onto her tightly.

"Get the hell off her you ugly bastard or I swear I will crack your skull!" Naruto yelled as he stomped down hard on the gator while pulling Velma out while Shaggy grabbed her other wrist at the very last second just as the gator let go, making her crash into him and Shaggy letting go.

"Y-You saved me" Velma said in a shaky tone.

"Of course, the last thing I want is for you to be hurt or in danger" he said as he pulled the 'skin' of the gator's hand off of her, narrowing his eyes as it definitely felt off.

Though before he could comment on it the three gators lunged at them, making them all quickly run out of the room and towards the front door of the hotel.

"Scooby get behind the wheel!" Fred yelled as Naruto understood what he was planning.

"But the Mystery machine doesn't have an engine!" Daphne yelled as Naruto nodded.

"Which is why we are going to push it down the hill and away from here!" Naruto said as he quickly picked Velma up and stood up on the back bumper to set her on top of the van. "Daphne get up there as well! Shaggy help us push!" Naruto ordered as Velma helped Daphne up and he, Fred and Shaggy started pushing from behind.

"Hold on girls because Scooby is going to have to turn it around mid-roll!" Naruto said as they held onto the luggage railing on top as they pushed it down and Scooby, rather skillfully turned it around mid-roll before it quickly started to roll down the hill.

"Quickly, jump on!" Fred said as he helped Shaggy onto the bumper as Naruto ran and caught up with it just as it sped down the hill until it slowed down just as they passed the 'Welcome to Gatorsburg' sign.

"Look, they're stopping" Velma said as they looked back to see the three gators stopping at the bridge that crossed the river that went through town and acted as the 'border' of it.

"They weren't trying to eat us, I think they only wanted us out of town" Naruto said with a frown as he had held onto the 'hand' of the gator that had grabbed Velma.

"Is it me or does this look like a costume? Also do any of you notice the link between number of gators and number of people living here?" Naruto asked as he pointed to the sign that showed the painted on '3' above the crossed out number.

"Yeah but if we are going to solve the rest of this mystery we need to go back into Gatorsburg" Fred said as Naruto frowned but cracked his knuckles.

"Fine by me since I am a bit pissed at them for ruining something" he growled as Velma blushed a bit as she and Daphne got off the top of the van.

"Come on let's follow them while we still can" Fred said as Shaggy and Scooby whimpered as the others stealthily sneaked back through the town until they reached a boathouse and docks.

"Like look, it's them" Shaggy said as they watched the gator people start loading crates into a boat.

"What are they loading up?" Daphne asked as Naruto ran crouched down towards a stack of crates as the others followed and Velma opened on up with a nearby crowbar to reveal it being full of gator skin products.

"100 percent pure gator," she said as she picked up a gator skin belt in a plastic bag and read off the bag with a frown "it's just like the purse Mr. E sent us" she said as Daphne frowned while Scooby bit open the packaged belt.

"Let me see that" Daphne said as she pulled up her sleeve and spun the belt around so it wrapped her whole forearm before letting out a hiss of pain and throwing it off to reveal her arm covered in hives where the belt had touched her skin.

"What happened?" Fred asked as Daphne frowned.

"I'm allergic to imitation animal skin, pleather, fake fur, it all makes me break out" she said as Naruto grabbed her arm.

"You didn't have to do it that much to show us Daphne. Just be thankful I carry this stuff around" Naruto said as he poured some of Daphne's lotion that alleviated her hives onto his hand and helped her put it on.

Due to his and Daphne's friendship, where both of their love interests didn't really notice their advances and were focused on something or someone else, the two of them occasionally had a lot of time to talk and somewhat become better friends.

It was around that time that Daphne had told him about her allergies to fake animal skin as well as shellfish. She had asked him to hold onto her epi-pen for the shellfish and lotion for the fake skin and he agreed to hold on to it. Especially since in a tourist town and one next to the water there was a good chance she would run into both.

"So that belt isn't 100 percent pure gator. It's a fake, they're all fakes" Velma said slightly trying not to stare as Naruto put on Daphne's lotion as a tinge of something spiked in her chest before she shook it off.

She knew how Daphne and Naruto considered each other like siblings, something both have told her various times but with his intense confession in the hotel her emotions were a bit on haywire.

"We have to stop them" Fred said with that classic determination in his eyes as Naruto could already tell he was thinking the plans for another trap.

Thankfully this time the trap wasn't overly complex like usual as Shaggy just had to lead the gator people to the rope snares made out of gator belts that Naruto and Fred were in charge of since Fred almost made Daphne pull them, already forgetting her allergy to it.

He tensed his hands around the belt as Shaggy and Scooby ran by, leading the gators before they reached the spot. "Now!" Fred yelled as they both pulled, capturing the gators as they were sent flying up by the pulley system Fred rigged up.

Naruto watched, hoping this one worked unlike the last one, as everything seemed to work fine. The last part was the one that everything could go wrong as the gators fell onto a trampoline as Velma slid out the gator skin trunks for them to fall in with the forklift.

He let out a sigh of relief as they all fell in and were trapped with the gator belts wrapping around the trunks as they rolled a bit from the force of the gator people falling into them.

"Old 45, gets them every time" Fred said as he and Daphne sat on one of the trunks while he looked through a book that read 'Fred's Traps'.

Daphne sighed with a pout as Fred, once again, was focusing on his traps before Naruto patted her on the back encouragingly. "You'll get him soon Daph" he said with a smile as he sat down on the middle trunk while Velma called the sheriff which due to Crystal Cove not being too far away meant he could rather quickly.

"We should bring these three in front of the hotel so it's easier for the Sheriff to find us" he said as Fred nodded and started up the forklift and carefully scooped them up and drove them off towards the hotel as they others followed on foot.

By the time they got to the hotel the cops were already pulling up and waiting. "Well we should get them out shouldn't we?" Naruto asked as he kicked the trunks a few times, making them roll over and rattle around the gators inside as he was a bit angry.

Anyone would be angry too if three gator people chased their friends into a room where he was confessing to the girl he loved and had just gotten a kiss out of her.

"Yeah let's see who these gators really are" Fred said as he opened the trunks and just as the gators lurched out the gator belts that had been binding the trunks now bound them and made them unable to move.

Fred walked over to the first gator, as he pulled off his mask "Grady Gator, Grenda Gator and Gunther Gator" Fred said as he walked past, unmasking all of the gator people.

"Well it's kind of obvious since they are the only people living here" Naruto said as Velma shushed him with a smirk as Fred asked them why they had done it.

"After we ran outta gators everybody moved out of Gatorsburg but not us" Grady, the mechanic, said as Greta nodded.

"This here's our home" she said as Daphne frowned.

"So with no alligators you decided to make imitation gator products and pass them off as real" she said as Velma stepped forward next.

"But you couldn't have anyone snooping around Gatorsburg so you created the Creeping Creatures to scare people away" she said as Fred nodded.

"Then you could run your counterfeit gator ring without anyone know who you were or what you were up to" Fred said as Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Quite a ridiculous plan as always. Villains honestly need to be smarter if a group of teens can foil it" Naruto said with a chuckle as Gunther leaned forward.

"And we would have gotten away with it too if it weren't for you meddling juveniles and your unauthorized investigation of our synthetic gator accessories" Gunther said as the Sheriff groaned.

"You're telling me this gator stuff is fake! I paid a fortune for this track suit!" Sheriff Stone yelled as Velma frowned over at the upset sheriff.

"Sorry Sheriff" she said as he sighed.

"Man I got to get out of this suit. This fake gator doesn't breathe and I'm starting to smell a little funky" he said as his two deputies backed away from him a bit. "Arrest them even though I have absolutely no jurisdiction here!" he yelled before storming off to his cruiser as the deputies took away the Gators while he started to drive away.

"Wait Sheriff! Can you give us a ride!? The Mystery Machine is-" Fred started to say before the supposed engineless van roared to life.

"Like there's no engine in the Mystery Machine! It's haunted!" Shaggy said as he cowered behind Velma before Naruto rolled his eyes and opened the hood to reveal the engine was back and a familiar pink not with a wax pressed 'E' on it was taped onto the inside of the hood.

"It's from Mr. E" Velma said before he pulled and opened it up.

" _Hope you had a good time in Gatorsburg. But be warned there are more mysteries to come. This is only one piece of the puzzle - Mr. E_ " he read out as Fred frowned.

"Puzzle? What's that supposed to mean?" Fred asked as Shaggy shivered.

"I don't know but I have a bad feeling we are going to find out" Shaggy said as lighting flashed and thunder boomed behind them making Scooby jump into Shaggy's arms and Velma instinctively reach and grab Naruto's hand.

"Well, come on gang. Let's get home" Fred said as Velma looked over at Naruto with a blush before she gave his hand a squeeze and sat up in the front with Daphne, leaving him alone in the back with Shaggy and Scooby.

The drive back to Crystal Cove was quiet, a bit more than usual though he chalked it up to them still being a bit out of it from the gators chasing them and the warning Mr. E gave them.

Once they had reached Crystal Cove Fred quickly dropped them all off.

Naruto made sure to grab the book he had found in Gatorsburg as he headed up to his apartment. He wanted to read the book but for now he just threw it onto his coffee table as he fell back onto his couch.

'I went too far with that kiss didn't I?' he thought with a frown as he ran his hand through his hair with a loud groan. 'She barely even looked at me after I did that and the whole drive home. She definitely is angry at me' he thought as he looked up at the ceiling with a sigh.

He was brought out of his thoughts as a knock rang out on his door, making him quickly stand up and walk to it a bit confused. He wasn't expecting anyone over and it's not like he got many visitors in general.

As he opened the door he was a bit stunned to see Velma standing there as she looked at him with a blush on her cheeks. "My mom said I can stay over like usual. Can I still come in?" She asked as he nodded a bit surprised to see her here.

"Y-Yeah of course, you're still welcomed here whenever" he said as she smiled lightly and nodded as she walked inside. "Do you want some tea or coffee?" he asked as she shook her head and sat down on the couch and looked at him as if telling him to sit down as well, which he quickly did.

The two of them stayed in a bit of silence before Velma clenched her fists and frowned "I don't know what or who I want right now Naruto and right now with everything that happened in that hotel room I am very confused. I don't want our friendship to be broken because of my indecisiveness" she said as Naruto could see her eyes watering up before he put his hands over her clenched fists and squeezed them softly.

"Velma, you don't have to feel stressed or rushed to answer. I meant it when I said I am willing to wait as long as it takes for you to figure things out. The main thing I want is for you to be happy, that's partially why I did what I did" he said softly as she looked up at him.

"It was eating me up inside every time you got upset or sad when Shaggy blew you off since you deserve to be loved. I promise I won't go away if you pick Shaggy over me since I don't think I could function without you in my life" he said with a chuckle, making her laugh softly as well.

"A-And the kiss?" she asked as he smiled and stroked her cheek.

"I promise I won't pull any dirty moves like that again and will leave your lips alone until or if you choose me. The last thing I want is for you to feel uncomfortable or like you are forced to decide before you are ready" he said as she nodded before letting out a squeak as he pulled her onto his lap.

"Though that doesn't mean I'm not going to tease you" he said as he wrapped his arms around her lap and fall back, pulling her down with him.

Velma blushed a bit as she rested her head on his chest before she put her hands on him and pushed up so she could look at him. Before she could question if he was actually serious or not she squeaked as she felt his hands slide under her skirt and start to grope and squeeze her ass as she could see by the look in his eyes he was very clearly serious about teasing her from time to time.

She felt a bit conflicted as Naruto rubbed and groped her ass. She knew she shouldn't be allowing or liking this as much as she was but some deep part of her told her to let it play out and see what all Naruto means by teasing.

"F-Fine but no funny business" she said as she jabbed her finger against his chest as he nodded, still rubbing her ass as she looked down at him.

"I promise but it will be quite hard given how I can see myself getting addicted to this" he said with a smirk as he started to squeeze and grope her ass even more. He was definitely enjoying himself as he groped her ass over her panties, digging his fingers into her very supple ass and stroked it.

Velma bit her lip before she let out a soft moan and she slapped his chest out of embarrassment before he held his hands up in surrender. "Sorry, I couldn't help. No real funny business starting now" he said as she pouted at him but nodded.

"Well anyways it is getting late. Are you still going to stay over?" he asked as she nodded.

"Yeah, I don't want things to change between us Naruto and to be honest I like spending the night here, it gets me away from my mom and everything" Velma said as he smiled and pet her head.

"Well then let's get off to bed then" he said with a smile as Velma smiled.

"I'll get changed, meet you in the room?" she asked as he nodded and smiled as she walked off, staring at her butt as she walked away.

Though the second the bathroom door closed he couldn't help but smile as he was immensely happy that she actually wasn't angry at him and actually thinking things over. He actually wanted her to take her time to answer him since Velma was the type who made decisions better after thinking them over a bit and he didn't want to make her rush into anything.

His eyes looked back to the book that he had set on the coffee table before he picked it up and frowned as he opened the drawer on his entertainment system and slid it in there to keep it safe and out of view.

Right now reading through all of that book could come later, right now he was just happy to still be able to spend time with Velma and he wanted to use all the time he could with her. The book would always be there for him to read tomorrow.

"You coming to bed?" Velma said behind him as he turned to see her standing in front of his bedroom door in her usual pajamas.

He smiled as he nodded "Yeah, sorry I was just putting something away" he said with a smile as he draped his arm over her shoulder and walked to his room, glad he still had her in his life and hopeful that things grew between them in the future.

 **-Chapter End-**

So this chapter has a lot more romance than the first chapter as this is when it first starts. Naruto's relationship with Velma will be odd at first but will get further along. Plus no we are not going to NTR Velma from Shaggy as we have planned for Naruto to help Shaggy admit to Velma he doesn't want a relationship.

Also the mystery of the books and everything in them will be revealed more and more as the story progresses as we have plans for where he finds each book.

Till the Next Time

Drop a review!

See Ya!


	3. Chapter 3

**Fox of Crystal Cove**

 **Chapter 3**

 _ **Contributor: DragonPony022**_

Naruto let out a sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose while he read through the book he had found in Gatorsburg. To anyone else this book would sound like a crazy cult of some kind, with its talk of having spirits in shrines and using them to benefit the land around it, but to him it was a bit hard to take even with his dreams and the mysterious sender of the letter backing it up.

There wasn't much info on the other shrines like he thought there would be but there was drawings and names of the spirits in the others. His was the ninth that held a fox, sadly it was the only one without a name.

The more he read the more her somewhat understood what happened to Gatorsburg to make it dry up. The spirit the town had was named Isobu, a turtle that apparently brought aquatic prosperity in the form of gators, since being as a turtle it would attract other reptiles to that specific area. The only reason turtles most likely didn't appear in Gatorsburg was the fact that the town was a bit of a marshland, better for gators than turtles.

Though when the spirit was released its prosperity left with it.

He had also learned that for a spirit to leave they have to inhabit a human host for a preset amount of time that was different to each one. The spirits referred to this as a 'deal' which slightly worried him since if his dreams were real then the spirit had somehow made a deal with him.

He wasn't sure when or even if he really had made a 'deal' with a spirit but he was slightly worried what hosting a spirit would involve.

Though before he could worry more about the subject he heard the bathroom door open and Velma walk out, making him quickly close the book and stash it back in his entertainment system for the time being.

There would always be time to read and reread over it but to him spending time with Velma was always his priority since she made him relax and not worry about what might be looming ahead.

He smiled a bit mischievously as he watched her walk into the kitchen, her back towards him as she tried to reach up for a cup on one of the higher shelves of his. She was still wearing her pajamas since she rarely wore her normal clothes here since they often just relaxed here, though recently her usual pajamas had changed a bit.

She still wore some short pajama shorts, only now they had gotten a bit shorter, which was something he instantly noticed. Also she had stopped wearing baggy shirts of his and started to wear more tank tops that showed off a good bit of her cleavage as well as defining her chest a bit.

Moving silently he started to sneak up behind her before wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing the back of her neck, making her jump a bit and let out a squeak. "D-Do you really have to kiss my neck so much? I mean I already get woken up by you groping my butt every morning" Velma said with a slight blush as since a week has passed since his confession stuff like this was getting normal.

Didn't mean it still didn't make her blush and fidget but it was getting something she started to expect.

"Aw you love it, I mean you always wake up with a soft little moan after all" he whispered in her ear as recently he had taken advantage of where his hands were every time he woke up and started to enjoy it.

"Anyone would make those kinds of noises if they were woken up like that. It doesn't mean anything" she said with a blush as she tried to ignore Naruto's hands around her waist and the kisses he kept planting on her neck.

"Also I thought you said you weren't going to do this that much" she said as she turned around and looked up at him while she crossed her arms with a frown.

"True but you make it awfully hard to resist" he said as he put his hands on her hips and picked her up, making her let out a sudden yelp before he sat her down on the counter. "You always look so beautiful in the morning and even more so when you are still a bit wet from getting out of the shower" he said as he rested his forehead against hers and smiled at her.

"You say that corny line more or less every day Naruto" she said as she averted her eyes from his and blushed a bit.

"Doesn't mean it isn't still true" he whispered as he very softly planted a few kisses on her cheeks, close to the corner of her mouth as he knew he couldn't kiss her again but this was as close as he could get.

Velma shivered as she felt him trail kisses closer to her ear before he started to nibble on her earlobe, a weak spot of hers that he had quickly found out and been exploiting since then. She let out a slight groan as she struggled to keep the moan creeping up her throat muffled.

"Your ears seem to be getting more and more sensitive every day" he said softly as he slid his hands up her thighs before sliding around to her butt.

"They are like this because you do stuff like this to me every day" she muttered as he smiled, happy he was having an effect on her before he started to nibble on her ear more, making her bury her face into his shoulder to cover up the large blush on her face.

Velma always felt a cocktail of emotions every time Naruto did this kind of stuff to her. A part of her loved it, loved the attention and care he gave her while another knew she shouldn't be doing this as she was with Shaggy. She knew Naruto would never go too far until she made a decision but he had the habit of trying to tilt it in his favor with his actions.

She didn't mind too much until it started to make her hot and bothered but then Naruto would always stop just as it was, slightly torturing her with the amount of his teasing.

It had gotten to the point she had started having dreams about him, mature dreams where he didn't stop after she got 'bothered'. He kept continuing to the point where she would wake up and need a cold shower to calm herself down. It was even getting bad to the point where she kept remembering the dreams whenever she looked at him at times.

She moaned quietly into his shoulder as he continued to grope and squeeze her ass, melding her flesh in a way that sent powerful shivers through her spine. He made her melt in his hands as she felt his fingers bury into her ass, gripping it tightly as he almost kneaded her cheeks.

Everything was putting her in such a daze that she tilted her head up and started to kiss and nibble on his neck. Her body screamed at her for more as she slid her hands down to her rear and grabbed his hands, surprising him a bit as he watched her move them to her chest.

"M-More" she whispered, barely audible with a crimson blush on her cheeks as Naruto grinned, kissing her neck as she let out a quivering moan as he started to grope and feel her breasts.

This was the first real time he had groped her breasts with the only other time being when she woke up with his hands on her breasts while he was completely asleep. Now with him working his hands on her breasts, moving his hands over them as if he was trying to memorize the feel of them, was amazing.

"N-Naruto~" she moaned out as he kissed down her neck and continued to massage and grope her breasts. She shivered as she felt him kiss and even graze his tongue against her collarbone, getting down to her cleavage as she held onto his shoulders for support.

Naruto smiled as he heard Velma let out a loud moan as he softly kissed the tops of her breasts, his smile growing as he could feel her nipples hardening against the palms of his hands. He made her moan a bit more as he used his palms to play with her nipples before she started to bite onto his shirt to try and muffle her moans.

"More" she nearly screamed out in between a moan as Naruto could see the lust and daze in her eyes before he moved his hands back down her body before slipping them under her tank top.

He paused for a second as he looked up at her, wanting to make sure she was okay with this since while he might tease her a lot he always made sure to stop if he could see any sign of her not being okay with it. He never wanted to make her feel uncomfortable or do anything she wasn't okay with.

Velma panted as she grew restless until she felt Naruto's bare hands graze against her stomach as she looked down to see him looking up at her, as if asking permission to continue. She blushed darkly as she nervously nodded, her body craving his touch speaking for her as he smiled and kissed her stomach as his hands slid up her shirt.

Naruto's heart was beating a bit faster as he was a bit surprised but happy that things were turning out like this so early in the morning as he had just expected to tease her neck a bit before she told him to stop.

He smiled as he felt the soft flesh of the bottom of her breasts, slowly trailing his fingers up to her nipples, his 'target'. But just as his fingers were about to graze against them a loud pounding sounded out on his door, making the two of them jump apart with a blush on both of their faces.

Naruto struggled not to yell as he literally couldn't have been interrupted at a worse possible time. "Hey Naruto, we dropped by to see if you wanted to come to the beach with us?! Are you awake?" Fred said through the door loud enough for him to hear as he suppressed his urge to strangle Fred.

He sighed as he pulled Velma off the counter "We will continue this later if that's okay with you" he whispered to her as he stroked her cheek.

She blushed nervously as she shivered a bit but nodded slightly before she went to walk off. But before she could she felt Naruto wrap his arms around her waist and turn her around. She stared up as he tilted her head up towards him.

"I hope you don't regret all this later when the high dies down cause I never do. Everything we do I love because it is with you Velma. I know you still can't answer but know that I love every inch of you with every inch of myself" he said as he kissed her cheek, dangerously close to the corner of her mouth as Velma groaned mentally as she hated when he did that.

She knew she shouldn't but she wanted to experience that powerful kiss again like she had in the hotel.

As he held her close Velma couldn't help but blush as she felt something hard press against her lower body, something she expected to be there but it still gave her shivers whenever she felt it against her. Though with how things had been recently it was basically every morning.

"Go get into your normal clothes, I'll make something up to cover for you" he said as he gave her one last kiss on the neck before letting her wobble off towards his bedroom to get changed.

The second she entered his room and closed the door she collapsed against it, holding her hand to her chest as she felt her heart beating like crazy. From all that had just happened to the romantic comments that Naruto had said to her had sent her into a slight haze before she shook it off so she could get dressed.

'I-I can think about this later but I need to get dressed' she thought as she shakily stood back up and started to get changed.

Naruto sighed as he composed himself and opened the door, wearing a bit of a forced smile "Sorry about that I was a bit busy" he said as Fred smiled.

"It's no worries pal, so are you free to come? We were just about to go pick up Velma after you" Fred said as Naruto shook his head.

"I'm good to come but you don't need to go to Velma's cause she is over right now" he said as Daphne grew a bit of a hopeful smile.

"She was just helping me wake up so I don't skip breakfast or lunch like I almost tend to do on the weekends" he added as Daphne frowned a bit, most likely sad that it wasn't like how she thought, at least not that she knew.

"Oh hey guys, I wasn't expecting you all to come over" Velma said a bit nervously as Daphne frowned.

"Yeah I'm sorry for dropping by suddenly. I told Fred to call ahead but he wanted it to be a surprise" Daphne said as Velma chuckled a bit nervously, not that anyone besides Daphne picked it up in the rest of the gang.

"Oh like do you still have some food left over?" Shaggy asked as he poked his head into the apartment until Velma and Daphne pushed and pulled him out respectively.

"Don't force yourself in Shaggy" Daphne scolded as Shaggy rubbed his shoulder nervously.

"So how about you get changed and we can head down to the beach. Angel is taking a job as the announcer for the women volleyball tournament and she told us about it" Fred said as Naruto nodded.

"I'll get dressed and meet you guys down by the Mystery Machine" he said as they nodded and left before Velma started to walk out.

"Don't take too long" Velma said as she looked at him before blushing and quickly following after the rest of the gang.

'I have really got to invest in a 'do not disturb' sign or something' he thought with a sigh as he closed his door and went to get changed.

 **-Crystal Cove Beach-**

Naruto, while always glad to hang out with friends, wished they hadn't shown up as volleyball was never his kind of sport and he could have been spending the day relaxing with Velma. But complaining wouldn't get him back home so he decided to enjoy it.

"Oh boy, like what a crowd" Shaggy said as they looked around to see a bunch of people, from adults to kids, running around the beach as the tournament was getting set up. "Let's just hope like they save us some food Scoob" he added as Scooby nodded along.

Naruto shivered a bit as a mascot selling 'dietary water' called Trickle's Trick-quid walked by. "Seriously? Isn't that stuff just a fancy name for water?" he asked as he was a bit confused about the 'latest craze'.

"It's not that bad since it got us these beach ready bodies" two girls wearing bikinis said as they smiled and slightly hugged his arms. "I love your hair, do you maybe want to hang out later? Just the three of us?" one of the girls said as the other nodded.

Velma clenched her fists, feeling almost a bit territorial before she saw Naruto kindly pulled their arms off of him.

"While I am very flattered I kind of already have a girl I have my eyes on right now. I'd feel like I would be betraying her if I did that, even if we aren't dating. I just can't see myself with anyone but her" Naruto said as the two girls let out an 'awww' from how sweet it was.

Velma blushed as her heart skipped a beat at Naruto's words, already knowing he was talking about her. She knew in all honesty Shaggy would never be that romantic but she wanted to at least give him a chance.

"Hey Shaggy, what would you do if two girls started hitting on you like that?" Velma asked as Shaggy looked at her confused

"What did you say Velm? I couldn't hear you over my stomach, like it wants some real food right Scooby-Doo?" Shaggy asked as Scooby nodded.

"Yeah rike that!" Scooby said as he pointed towards the Clam Cabin and started walking towards it.

Velma sighed as technically that would be Shaggy's answer since in his mind it went Scooby, food, and then her. "Ugh not that place, that guy's a freak" Velma said as she pulled Shaggy's arm back.

"While I agree his clam food is a bit weird, especially that clam ice cream," Naruto said with a quick shiver of disgust "he isn't that bad a guy. Just a little intimidating, something I kind of understand" he finished as he scratched at his whiskers a bit.

Often people who didn't know him found him a bit scary with his blood red hair and whiskers.

"Yeah Skipper Sheldon is totally cool, just don't mention his nose" Shaggy said as they walked up to the front of the little cabin.

"Hey there Cappy! What happened to the old sniffer?" Velma asked as Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at Velma's bluntness. It wasn't the rude kind just the curious kind.

"What happened!? I'll tell ye boyo! It was a clam that took it! Fierce and mighty was he!" Skipper said as he started to rant like he tended to do.

Naruto though smiled as everyone else was in front of them against the counter with Velma being a bit behind the rest as he stood behind her. He made sure no one else was really looking their way as he slid his hands down Velma's back, descending towards her ass.

Velma had to bite her lip as she felt Naruto's hands slide under her skirt and grab onto her butt. It wasn't uncommon for Naruto to tease her around others but normally he kept away from her butt. She guessed it was because of them getting interrupted earlier that he was being this bold and a part of her was glad since she too had been strained since they interrupted them.

"You know I really wish you were more open to wear swimsuits. I mean it would show off everything of yours amazingly and make it so much easier to tease" he whispered in her ear as he continued to grope and massage her ass, making her have to cover her mouth with both hands to muffle the moan she let out to make sure no one heard her.

She widened her eyes as she felt his hands slide under the back of her panties, gripping her bare ass, firmly squeezing it as he kneaded it in his hands. 'W-Why, why is he going under my panties for the first time in public like this' she thought before she shook her head with a blush as she was confused why her words fumbled like that as if there would be more times.

"W-why are you doing this?" Velma asked him through her teeth as she turned her head to look back at him slightly while he kept squeezing and groping her ass. She wondered and worried a bit just how far he was going to go in public like this and as much as she tried to bury it in her mind she was a bit turned on by the public aspect and possibly being noticed.

"Well after getting interrupted like we were and seeing your sexy ass in your cute skirt made it difficult not to" he whispered in her ear as he rubbed her ass and dug his fingers into her bare ass.

"Y-You're such a pervert I swear, and a crazy one for doing it here" she squeaked out as he smiled, resting his head on her shoulder and shrugging his shoulders.

"Maybe but it's not like I'm the only one to enjoy this. I can feel some dampness on my hands that tells me I'm right" he said as he quickly gave her a kiss on the neck and slid his hands out of her panties smirking at her as her blush grew a shade that matched the color of his hair.

She turned her head away from him, a bit bothered by how easily he got her to lower her guard but also a bit annoyed he stopped. She didn't deny she liked how him touching her felt to her and often her mind wandered, continuing what he had stopped. Though she felt better fantasizing at her home or in his apartment more than anything.

"I said so what shall it be!" Skipper yelled, snapping Velma out of her daze as Shaggy smiled.

"I'll take an extra-large please" he said as Velma, taking the opportunity to take her mind off Naruto and his hands, remembered something she had been trying to get Shaggy to do.

"Didn't we agree that you would cut out the junk food" Velma said in a whisper as Naruto shivered at the clam ice cream being scooped.

"No offense Skipper but I'm good on clam ice cream...seems unnatural to me" Naruto said with a shiver as Skipper shrugged his shoulders.

"Um never mind Skipper, I should like totally eat something healthier" Shaggy said with a slight frown as Scooby dropped his jaw.

"Oh those look taste. A big salty clam would go great with this heat, you want one Daph?" Fred asked as Daphne frowned, taking a step back from the Clam Cabin.

"Fred you know what happens when I'm around seafood. You remember what happened at my sister's wedding" Daphne said as that was the first time she had found out that she was allergic to seafood.

"Don't worry Daph, I still have your pen on me so you can relax a bit" he said as he patted Daphne on the back with a smile.

"Yeah and the clams aren't close enough to do you any harm" Fred said as he leaned on the counter. "Hey Skipper didn't your cabin be where the volleyball courts are?" he asked as Skipper nodded as he set down four cones of clam ice cream on the counter.

"Aye! Every time the town has an event on the beach they move me business! Blast ye city council! I need a clamming break, watch me cabin!" Skipper yelled as he picked up his barrel of clams and stormed out.

"Come on, let's get our seats and get ready for the first match" Fred said as he picked up two of the cones while Scooby wolfed down the other two.

Velma frowned at Shaggy as he stared hungrily at the cones Fred walked off with before Shaggy shrugged his shoulders like he didn't understand why Velma was upset, causing her frown and follow after the others.

"Aw come on Velma, can't I have a little bit?" Shaggy asked as Velma moved next to Naruto and let him sling his arm over her shoulder as they walked to the volleyball rings.

They quickly found their seats as the matches were about to begin, Fred and Daphne the row behind him as he sat next to Velma with Shaggy and Scooby on her other side.

Naruto didn't mind too much as Velma scooted over towards Shaggy since they were dating and he could somewhat tell Velma was testing Shaggy to see if he was worth staying together with. Though he had to admit Scooby was very clingy when it came to Shaggy as almost every time Velma got close to Shaggy Scooby would always butt in and ruin it.

"Great game isn't it?" Scooby asked as he literally pushed his way in between Velma and Shaggy, draping his arms over their shoulders.

"Yeah, great" Velma said in a dry tone before slightly smiling as she saw Naruto place his hand on her thigh and stroke it consolingly with a smile of his own.

"You know we're still close to the water, all kinds of fish in there" Daphne said as she looked nervously towards the sea.

"Yeah they're so beautiful" Fred said as Daphne narrowed her eyes.

"The girls!?" she asked with glare as Fred shook his head.

"No the nets" Fred said in a dreamy tone.

"Nets?" Daphne asked as she was glad he wasn't talking about the girls.

"Yeah I wonder that their tensile strength is. They're made of nylon, perfect for making traps" Fred said as Naruto chuckled and leaned closer to Velma.

"I wonder if Fred's trap skills could be useful in the bedroom if Daph gets him into some S&M type stuff" he said as Velma quickly had to cover her mouth to muffle her laugh before she elbowed him playfully before Daphne leaned down to them.

"Do you two want to go on a walk?" she asked as Velma sighed looked over at Shaggy as Naruto slung his arm over her shoulder.

"Not like they will miss us" Velma said before the entire area started to shake.

"Like Scoob is that your stomach?" Shaggy asked as Scooby shook his head before they watched a giant crab claw burst from the sand, catching and popping a volleyball.

The gang watched in shock as a massive crab rose from the sand. It was massive, standing on two legs as its right arm was larger than the left with a massive claw as the left hand a more human hand and five clawed fingers.

As the massive crab roared his hand immediately reached for and grabbed Velma's hand as the crowd started to scream and panic while in clipped the volleyball net.

"Is that a crab or is it a man!?" Daphne asked as Naruto shook his head.

"It doesn't matter if it's a Man-Crab or not. It's coming this way and we need to run!" Naruto yelled as he got up and started pulling Velma along as the Man-Crab charged towards them, slamming its claw down where they were only sitting moments ago.

They continued to run as the massive crab chased after them, using its claws to try and dig ahead of them and capture them before he pulled Velma close to him, sliding the both of them under a swing.

The Man-Crab must have not liked that as it roared and slammed its claw into the ground, making one of the wooden boards of the stands catapult the gang and three little kids that were running in front of them into the air.

As he was sent flying up into the air he quickly pulled Velma close to him, holding her in a princess carry, grabbing her ass and just under her bust from the side as they rose up and started to fall.

He braced himself for the crash back down to the ground as he focused on cushioning Velma before he felt himself bounce a bit as the others landed around them on a net that some of the volleyball players were holding to catch them.

They quickly got off the net as the Man-Crab was distracted by Angel throwing CD's at it before roaring and crashing into the opposite stands.

"What the hell is with monsters showing up everywhere we go!?" Naruto yelled in slight frustration as the Man-Crab dived back into the sand, burrowing at incredible speeds towards them.

"Out of the way!" he yelled as he pulled Velma and Daphne out of the way as the others dived the other way to avoid the Man-Crab that shot towards them.

Though they didn't even seem to be the Man-Crab's target as it kept going, burrowing through the sand before it jumped back out in front of one volleyball player. The girl screamed as she tried to run away before the Man-Crab grabbed her with its pincer, diving back into the sand as it sped off with her flailing above the sand, screaming for help.

"We can't let that thing get away!" Fred yelled as the gang ran after the Man-Crab while Shaggy laughed nervously.

"Like sure we can Fred, all we have to do is stand right here" Shaggy said before Velma rolled her eyes and pulled Shaggy and Scooby along after the Man-Crab.

"It's heading to the changing room!" Naruto yelled as he watched the Man-Crab stand on top of the tent before ripping a hole in it and jumping down into it. He was fast, immediately darting into the tent only to find nothing.

"What? They're gone" Fred said as Naruto frowned as he could already hear police sirens coming their way.

"How in the world did a massive crab just disappear when I was a second behind it?" Naruto thought out loud as almost right on cue to police drove up onto the beach as they walked out to meet the Sheriff.

"You kids just can't go anywhere without making trouble now can you?" Sheriff Stone asked as the gang just kind of shrugged their shoulders as the Sheriff buried his face in his hand. "You know the deal, tell me what you saw so I can get out of here" he said as they filled him in on just what happened.

One by one the Sheriff listened to their descriptions of the Man-Crab before Shaggy and Scooby got hysterical and started to make little sense. "Sheriff, you've got to close the beach before whatever that was takes more people" Naruto said with a frown.

"Nope, the beach stays open" a voice said behind them as they turned to see a man who reminded Naruto of a boat captain with how he was dressed walked up to them. "Hi, Peter Trickle, president of Trickle's Trick-quid" he said as he shook their hands.

"You can't just ignore a giant crustacean attacking your tournament" Velma said as Mr. Trickle laughed and waved her off.

"Ha, clearly you've never been to business school. Young lady no one is sure what they saw. Could've been a Man-Crab, could've been a Man-Lobster, it could even have been a really ugly out of shape person who should probably be drinking Trickle's Trick-quid" he said as Naruto frowned.

"Who cares what kind of man sea creature hybrid it is. I may not have gone to 'business school'," Naruto said as he put air quotes around business school "but I do know that something attacking your event is bad press and when it does come out, since nothing in this town really stays quiet with it comes to monsters. It will look bad that you let this go on as people got kidnapped. It's 'Jaws' all over again" Naruto finished as Mr. Trickle frowned and slightly narrowed his eyes.

"While it is clear something did happen here...there is nothing I can do about it" Sheriff said as Naruto discreetly rolled his eyes as he honestly hadn't expected anything else from his town's police department.

"But Sheriff!?" Fred said as Sheriff held his hands up.

"Hey, hey, hey! We're not set up for this. Our motto is to 'serve and protect' not to 'serve and protect against from Man-Crabs'" Sheriff said as he and Mr. Trickle walked off.

"Ugh why are the rich people in our town all jerks and our police force so lazy when it comes to stuff like this?" Naruto asked with a frown as he leaned against the lockers.

"Well you know what this means gang don't you?" Fred asked as Shaggy nodded.

"Yes, we respect authority, we go back home and forget this ever happened" Shaggy said as Naruto laughed.

"When do we ever do that? It means we do what the police refuse to and investigate" Naruto said as Fred nodded with a smile.

"I'm afraid you'd say that" Shaggy said as Naruto sighed before raising an eyebrow.

"I think it's already off to a good start" Naruto said, getting their attention as he pointed to the sand pouring out of the locker next to the one he was leaning against.

"Look who's it is" Velma said as they looked up to see a name tag reading 'Skipper Shelton' taped to it.

"Skipper Shelton. He also wasn't around when the Man-Crab attacked" Velma said as Naruto rubbed his chin as they saw the Skipper walk by.

"He's so mad at the city for moving his cabin he has a perfect motive for ruining the tournament" Fred said while Daphne smiled next to him.

"What we need is a trap for the Man-Crab, right Fred?" Daphne said, trying to appeal to Fred's obsession with traps to win his attention.

"Actually what I was thinking is that we need a trap for the Man-Crab!" Fred said with a proud look on his face, showing that he completely wasn't even paying attention to what Daphne had said.

"Good plan" Daphne said in a dry and slightly tired tone.

"Thanks! Daphne, you use to play a little volleyball back in the day didn't you?" Fred asked as Daphne brightened up from him turning his attention to her.

"Well I wouldn't exactly say 'play'" Daphne said, remembering the somewhat bad memories of her trying to play a year or so ago only to be hit repeatedly from almost every angle in the duration of one day of practice.

"You'll be perfect bait! I mean what Man-Crab wouldn't want to drag you underneath the sand" Fred said as Daphne smiled.

"Aww Fred, that's so sweet….sort of" she said with a bit of a frown as Fred quickly started to think up his plan to trap the Man-Crab.

It honestly didn't take that long as almost an hour later he found himself sitting on one of the many rocks close to the ocean as Fred set up the trap with Velma helping as Shaggy and Scooby ran lookout duty.

Thankfully this time, like last, it was a simple trap. Just lead the Man-Crab to the plunger, which would be hidden under the sand, and it would be sprung into a massive metal pot with the lid slammed on it.

He didn't know where Fred found the giant pot only that it was cast iron and heavy as hell as he and Fred were barely able to push it into the spot Fred had designated.

"You know before this I use to really like crab" Shaggy said with a sigh before he and Scooby started going back and forth, naming numerous crab dishes that had Naruto shivering as some of them sounded gross.

"I can't talk about this! I promised Velma-I mean myself that I'd eat healthier" Shaggy said as Naruto chuckled.

"Ah yeah Velma likes to make sure people around her don't stuff their faces with gross and unhealthy food. Doesn't mean she isn't one to indulge every once in a while but food like the stuff you two eat is not good for anyone to wolf down all day" Naruto said out loud with a smirk, not really caring that they didn't listen to him, as he remembered how Velma had been the same with him when they were kids.

When his parents first disappeared and he had moved in with her and her family he had gotten it into his head that he needed to eat cheap ramen noodles to make sure they didn't spend much on him. He worried about being a bother to them more than anything.

It was only after a few months of that when Velma cut him off and got it through his head that he wasn't a bother and to eat better to grow better, teasing he'd always be shorter than her if he kept eating junk.

"It's finished, come on over guys!" Fred said as he ran over to them and waved at them to follow, making them get up from their spots to see Velma finishing up covering the plunger.

"All we need is Daphne to lead the Man-Crab to this spot and then bam! He'll get caught in the trap" Fred said as Naruto helped Velma back onto her feet.

"Where is Daphne anyways? Like the match is about to start and Scoob and I have to get back to watching the Clam Cabin-I mean the Skipper" Shaggy said before quickly correcting himself as Velma gave him a disappointed look.

"I'll go get her" Velma said with a sigh as Naruto frowned, wanting to go with her but decided to held Fred finish up the rigging of the lid to make sure this went as planned.

Velma chuckled a bit as she saw the van rocking a bit before Daphne burst out from the back wearing a two piece purple bikini. "Wow, who are you trying to impress?" Velma asked with a smile as Daphne did look very lovely in her bikini, something she knew guys would drool over.

It made her wonder, with the comment Naruto said earlier, how he would react to seeing her in a two piece bikini. She rarely wore swimsuits ever since she had gotten a terrible sunburn years ago, only wearing one out to the beach once and even that was a one piece suit.

The thought of wearing less clothes around Naruto, something she had been experimenting with by wearing tank tops and shorter pajama shorts, always made her blush as she wondered how he would react to it. Especially now given that she had let him go even further with her, almost having her chest groped by him this morning.

She really knew she shouldn't have let him do that but things always got a bit intense between them whenever they were alone, which was all the time nowadays.

She was snapped out of her thoughts as Daphne handed her a tube of suntan oil "Can you rub oil on my back Velma? Fred likes shiny things and it'd be better than having him look at nets" Daphne said as Velma nodded since she understood trying to appeal to a boy's interest a bit.

With Naruto it was easy, she literally just had to be around since he loved her body and giving her affection….while Shaggy loved food and his dog, two interests she really couldn't use to her advantage.

She sighed before she decided while she had Daphne alone she could get some advice from her only girl friend about her current situation with Shaggy and Naruto.

"Hey Daphne say there was a girl and she was dating someone who literally paid attention to everything but her and that she had this friend who, lets say, has been there for her forever and the friend starts getting closer" she said as she squirted lotion on her hand. "And the girl, loving the attention from someone she has a bit, well a big crush on for a while only to just realize it was returned, kind of lets the friend hold her and kiss her neck and stuff. Is that bad or understandable given the situation? Hypothetically that is" Velma asked as Daphne rubbed her chin in thought.

"Hmm does this girl hypothetically want to dump the neglectful boyfriend and be with the friend?" Daphne asked as Velma rubbed the lotion onto her while she played along, already somewhat knowing that Naruto and Velma had been getting close but decided to keep playing dumb so not to embarrass Velma.

"Yes! I mean, yeah the girl does but she wants to maybe give the boy she is dating a chance at least" Velma said as Daphne shrugged her shoulders.

"Well I think the girl needs to make a decision. Test the neglectful boyfriend to see if he's willing to pay attention to her and be a boyfriend and if not dump him and be with the other friend. It seems if the girl lets him show her attention like that then she has to have some powerful deep feelings for the boy. Hypothetically that is" Daphne said as she pointed to her back.

"Make sure you get in between the shoulder blades. When I burn there it makes me look like a hunchback" she said, unaware that her friend had been just tossed into the back. She jumped a bit as a massive glob of lotion squirted onto her back.

"Hey, that's a little much don't you think?..." Daphne said as she turned around before she widened her eyes as the Man-Crab stared her down, the fear of her allergies reacting to it. "Naruto! Fred! Help!" she screamed as she hoped they could actually hear her.

Naruto sighed as he sat on the sand, waiting for the two girls to return before he stood up. "They are taking too long, I'm going to go check on them" Naruto said as Shaggy and Scooby were too busy talking about food and Fred drawing his plan in the sand.

Just as he got a bit away he frowned, widening his eyes as he noticed Daphne running towards them before the Man-Crab rose up in front of him and smacked him away, sending him tumbling over several jagged rocks.

"Ow, crap! Daphne run to the trap!" Naruto yelled, not caring much for his pain before his eyes widened in shock as he saw Shaggy spring the trap on himself and a massive claw grabbing Daphne and pulling her down. "Shit! Daphne!" he yelled as he tried to reach her, immediately reaching for her epipen before she sunk under the sand, both him and Fred trying to dig down to reach her.

"What happened?! Something that smelled like drawn butter threw me in the van" Velma said as she watched Naruto give up digging as he kicked the pot in frustration as Fred kept digging frantically.

"The Man-Crab took Daphne! And someone sprung the trap before she could get here!" Naruto yelled as he kicked the pot again, tipping it over, an impressive feat given the weight of the pot, as Shaggy rolled out.

"L-Like sorry dude, I-I got hungry?" Shaggy said a bit embarrassed of his excuse as both Naruto and Velma frowned down at him.

"Fred calm down, we'll get her back" Velma said trying to calm down Fred.

"We have to Velma, I don't know what to do! And she was so shiny!" Fred said as he kept digging.

"Come on, we need to get him away from here. Let's take him to Angel, she might be able to help us" Naruto said as he rubbed Fred's back while Velma nodded and helped him move a still digging Fred to the van as Shaggy and Scooby followed a bit behind.

The ride to Angel's radio station was a quiet one, no one saying anything as the sound of Fred trying to dig being the only sound in the van as Naruto drove with Velma next to him and Shaggy and Scooby in the back.

When they arrived they pulled Fred out and brought him inside only for him to continue digging on the tiled floor.

"He's been digging like that since we lost Daphne. There's nothing but torn carpet all in the back of the Mystery Machine" Velma said as she disinfected the minor cuts on Naruto's back that he had gotten from being knocked into the rocks by the Man-Crab while Angel stood nearby.

"Like this is all my fault. If I never tried to be healthy Daphne would be alright. Scooby-Doo! More!" Shaggy whined as Naruto slammed his fist on the table next to him as he narrowed his eyes.

"No, Daphne would be alright if you didn't literally think with your stomach all the time! Your job was to watch the Clam Cabin but instead you run straight through where Fred had showed us not even five minutes earlier where the trap was! So don't blame Velma trying to help you be healthier for all of this" Naruto said in a clearly angered tone as Shaggy flinched a bit.

"Naruto relax, no need to snap" Velma said calmly though she too wanted to snap at Shaggy since in all honesty it was his fault. She blushed a bit as she felt Naruto's hands grab her hips and pull her down onto his lap, hugging her from behind while he rested his head on top of hers.

"Sorry, I'm just a bit on edge. I don't know if Daphne's reacted to the Man-Crab since she's allergic to shellfish. She could be experiencing anaphylaxis and be needing her epipen" Naruto said as he had tried to get it to her before she got pulled down but he didn't get there in time. He sighed as he held Velma closer to him as she was helping him calm down.

Velma, while she didn't care for Shaggy at this moment due to her being upset with him and the fact he wasn't even looking their way as he was wolfing down food, couldn't help but blush as she felt Naruto's toned muscles press against her back while Angel smirked at her knowingly.

"We'll find her and she will be okay Naruto. We just have to keep calm and leveled heads about this" Velma said as she gave Naruto's hands a squeeze as she felt him kiss the top of her head.

"Thanks Velma, you always help to calm me down" he said as she felt his lips brush against her neck, not kissing it but teasing her with it.

"Someone needs to make a plan. Why isn't anyone making a plan?" Fred asked frantically as Velma sighed.

"Because that's usually you Fred" Velma said as Fred nodded.

"That's right...what's wrong with me?!" he yelled as the doorbell to the radio station chimed.

"I'll get it" Scooby said as he walked off to the door while Fred started digging again. "Guys! Mr. E!" Scooby yelled as he ran back into the room holding another wax sealed letter that had an 'E' stamped into it.

"Scooby come over here" Velma said as she didn't want to move from her spot before the dog brought her the letter and Shaggy and Angel stood nearby.

She frowned as she opened the letter "Jinkies, look at this, this article is from years ago" she said as she pulled out a newspaper article that had a chunk of it torn off while showing three kids and a bird under the headline 'Local kids missing'.

"It says four kids went missing while exploring the Crystal Cove Caverns" Velma said as Angel held out her hand.

"Wait, let me see that" she said a bit worried as Angel handed it over.

"Is something wrong Angel? Do you know them?" Velma asked as she and Naruto looked over at her while she stared at the article before shaking her head.

"No, it's nothing" Angel said before Velma had to reach a bit to take the article back, making her tilt the envelope down and an 8-track cassette fall from the envelope.

Fred, still being in a weird funk ever since Daphne was taken, quickly put the 8-track cassette on top of a record and tried to play it. "It's not working!" Fred said as Angel rolled her eyes and moved up the needle and took off the 8-track.

"It's an 8-track Freddie, old school" Angel said as she inserted the 8-track into the player nearby and pressed play.

" _Hello children,_ " the apparent older male voice of Mr. E said as it played from the cassette" _if you've read the article than you know this volleyball tournament isn't the first time kids have disappeared from Crystal Cove. Worth researching, don't you think?_ " He asked before the 8-track ejected, its magnetic tape flying out of it, essentially destroying it.

"Well, safe to say what our next move is I think" Naruto said as he picked up his spare shirt, that Angel thankfully still kept around in case of emergencies, and stood up with Velma.

"Yeah, let's hurry. If we're lucky we can get there before the librarian leaves" Velma said as Fred, with a new burst of determination ran out of the radio station before they quickly had to follow him out before he left them behind.

Fred seemed focused as he had gotten them to the library incredibly fast which allowed them to catch the librarian just before she was locking up. And thankfully due to Velma repeated visits to the library from a kid until now, she had become friendly with the older woman and was trusted enough to lock up for her.

Naruto sneezed as they entered the part of the library that kept anything incredibly old that no one ever checked out. "I always hate coming to the morgue part of the library" Naruto said as Velma chuckled.

"You come with me all the time, you think you'd get use to the dust" Velma said as Shaggy frowned.

"Why do they call it the morgue, couldn't they have picked a better name" Shaggy said as Scooby jumped in his arms.

"It's a library you two, not an actual morgue. No need to act so afraid" Naruto said as he rolled his eyes.

"We need to find the computer down here with the article database. I don't know where she moved it recently and with her shutting down the lights beforehand it might be a bit difficult. We'll need to split up" Velma said as she felt Naruto wrap his arm around her waist.

"Velma and I will check one way the rest of you check the other" Naruto said as Shaggy nodded and walked off with Fred and Scooby.

"I was going to suggest you and Fred while I tried to talk with Shaggy" Velma said with a frown as he shrugged his shoulders and kissed her neck.

"Oh well I'm sorry. Do you want us to swap? He seems not to really care or even notice" Naruto said as Velma sighed as not once did Shaggy all day try and have some alone time with her. It was actually quite common for that to happen as 99 percent of the time she had to be the one to set stuff like that up and even then Scooby would always tag along.

"It doesn't matter, let's just go look around" Velma said as she grabbed his wrist and started to walk down an aisle between two bookshelves. She blushed a bit as she felt Naruto link his hand with hers as he pulled her close.

"In a library late at night with no one but a few others is the perfect atmosphere to mess around you know" he said as he turned her around to face him, sliding his free arm behind her to rub her butt over her panties.

Another very soft moan left her mouth before she frowned up at him "W-We need to be looking for the computer" she said before she felt him softly pin her against a bookcase, her hands being held above her by one of his hands as his other was under her shirt, softly on her stomach.

She didn't even need to check to know he wasn't holding her hands down with any force. He had done things like this before while teasing her neck and every time he was more or less just holding them up since he was never the kind to make her feel afraid.

"The others can find it and I've always had a fantasy of fooling around with you in a library since it seems so fitting for you. My little lovely a-dork-able girl being all naughty surrounded by books as she tries her best to not let anyone know what is going on" he whispered in her ear as he slid his leg in between hers, keeping her up as he didn't want her legs to give in and make her fall.

"D-Do you always think of perverted stuff like this?" Velma asked as she looked away from him, trying not to shift her weight as with how his leg was placed if she moved she would grind against his leg through her thin panties.

"Only when it comes to you Velma" he whispered back as she felt him start to nibble and kiss on her neck while his hand, torturously slow, started to slide up her stomach. He couldn't help but smile as he felt her slightly press up against his leg.

"Are you liking the idea?" he teased as even in the dark he could see her blush as she looked away from him. That was another thing he found adorable with Velma, she was always so shy and embarrassed when it came to him giving her attention.

"Aww, you're always so cute when you get all shy" he whispered as he pulled down her collar, making her realize her arms weren't being held up anymore and she was doing it herself before she gasped as she felt him start to suck on her neck.

"N-No~ Y-You'll leave a mark" she protested weakly as she saw him smile at her before he stopped sucking on her neck for a second.

"Isn't that the idea? If you don't want me to all you have to do is pull back up your collar" he said as he used one finger to hold it down, smiling at her as he saw her blush spread on her cheeks before she looked away again, non-verbally telling him to continue.

He smiled as he started leaving his mark on her again as she gasped and moaned, wiggling from the sensation and grinding against his leg. He found it cute how she was always too nervous to directly say yes since she never tried in the slightest to push him away, something he looked out for since he never wanted to do anything she didn't want to.

Velma blushed as she watched Naruto pull his head back, popping off his mouth from her neck with an audible noise as she could already see the hickey forming on her neck. She bit her lip as she felt him slowly lick her neck over where he had just sucked on while she felt his hands grasp her breasts, this time covered by her bra but it still sent a powerful jolt through her.

"Are you enjoying yourself Velma? Are you enjoying when I nibble and lick on your neck?" He asked as she felt him grope her chest and sink his fingers into the tops of her breasts.

She bit her lip, trying to keep silent before she felt his fingers press against her nipples through her bra. "Y-Yes, I-I do" she moaned out softly, almost as a whisper, as she saw Naruto smile.

Her blush grew a bit as she felt him lift his leg, the one that was in between hers, a bit higher to press against her more. She moved her hands to hold onto his shoulders for support as she buried her face in his neck. As much as she fought against it she was very quickly getting turned on and into the mood like she had been this morning in the kitchen.

Naruto smiled as he noticed the same daze in her eyes that he had seen this morning while Velma slowly started to grind against his leg. "Are you enjoying yourself there?" he asked as he nibbled on her ear, groping her chest more while she softly moaned in his ear while grinding faster.

He wished he could take off her bra right then and there to grope her bare chest as she moaned in his ear, holding onto him tighter as she leaned against him while grinding on his leg. The wetness he began to feel on his leg didn't help his urge to rip her clothes off much.

And true to the pattern that had been happening for the last couple of weeks, just as they were about to advance, him inches from pulling up her skirt to see her soaked panties Shaggy called out for them.

"Like dudes we found the computer!" Shaggy yelled making Naruto groan as he slid his hands out from under Velma's sweater, making her shiver as he ran his fingers over her stomach.

"Seems like we never get to finish" he said in a whisper as he kissed the hickey that was forming on her neck as he moved back before his eyes widened slightly at the book directly behind Velma's head.

The book sat upright, slightly at an angle so he could see the spine and the front at the same time. 'Clan of Nine - Six' he read as Velma leaned against him, catching her breath.

"We'll be right there" he called out to the others as he pet Velma's head, eyes still locked on the book. "You go to the others, I'll be right behind you. I just have to clean the mess a certain girl made on my jeans" he teased as she blushed and hit his chest playfully, making him chuckle as she rushed off away from him.

As she turned the corner around the bookcase he let out his breath he had been slightly holding as he picked up the book. 'So there are more, I'm just surprised I found another in Crystal Cove' he thought with a frown as he would have to definitely look into the other books a lot more.

"Naruto? Where are you?" Velma asked as he walked out of the aisle.

"I'm here, did you find what we came here for?" he asked while keeping the book hidden at his side.

"Yeah we found out the Crystal Cove Caverns run underneath the beach and volleyball court so we are going to check that out" Velma said, still sporting a blush that grew when she looked at him.

"Well then, what are we waiting for" he said with a smile as he draped his arm over her shoulder, still hiding the book while they headed out of the library and towards the van.

Not wanting to waste time, they quickly drove to one of the cavern's entrances, the closest one to the beach. As they walked in, Velma having to go back to pull in Shaggy after he got scared, they didn't notice anything out of the ordinary just yet.

Naruto though couldn't help but smile as he kept noticing Velma as she repeatedly adjusted the collar of her sweater, most likely trying to hide the hickey he had just left on her. "Oh my, are we trying to hide something there?" Naruto whispered in her ear as he blew softly at it, making her jump a bit and let out a squeak.

"I have to hide it because you left it high up on my neck" she hissed out in a whisper as she blushed and covered the mark with her hand.

"Well someone could have told me to do it lower if they hadn't lost their voice" he teased as he walked two of his fingers up her right thigh before stopping just as they got under her skirt. "I could have done it really low if you wanted me to" he said as he stroked her thigh before walking off, leaving a darkly blushing Velma frowning at him.

"Um I think I might have found something" Naruto said as he looked up to see a large stairway that was built around a massive stone column. He noticed how there was a hatch near the top with a ladder.

"What kind of crab monster would need stairs to reach the volleyball tournament?" Velma asked as she and the others walked up behind him.

"A crab monster that is very industrious and has a degree in engineering?" Shaggy said as Velma and Naruto rolled their eyes.

"No, a fake crab monster" Velma said as Fred shook his head.

"I don't care! I just want Daphne back!" Fred said frantically as he ruffled his hair in frustration.

"Fred? Is that you?" a voice that sounded like Daphne's said from far away.

"Now I hear her voice everywhere! Her voice sounds as sweet and as perfect as a trap snapping shut on a criminal!" Fred said as they all looked towards him. "Did I say that out loud!?" he asked as Naruto patted him on the back.

"Come on you're not the only one hearing her" Velma said as she started running off towards where she had heard Daphne's voice come from while the others followed.

"Help!" Daphne called out as they entered a small cave that was a part of the cavern where they saw Daphne along with three other people and a seagull trapped in a hanging cage.

"Fred! Oh Fred! Thank goodness you found me" Daphne said as Fred smiled and walked forward.

"Daphne! I'm so glad you're-hey this is a nice cage" Fred said as he immediately went from worrying about Daphne to his obsession with traps.

'Well Fred's emotions lasted for a good half a day' Naruto thought with a sigh for Daphne since she had a lot of work ahead of her before Scooby unlocked the cage for them.

He let Fred help Daphne up off the ground as Shaggy and Scooby helped the others up and he stood next to Velma. "Okay let's get out of here before it returns" Velma said before a roar sounded out behind them as they turned to see the Man-Crab glaring down at them.

"Run!" Naruto yelled as he pulled Velma out of the way as the Man-Crab slammed its massive claw down on the ground where they had been standing. Velma and the others didn't have to be told twice as they all scattered.

Velma held onto Naruto's hand tightly as he pulled her along, running through the cavern to avoid the Man-Crab that was chasing after all of them. "We need to get out of here. Where is the exit?" he asked as they hid behind a column, trying to get their bearings.

"I don't know, I got turned around" Velma said as she widened her eyes as the both of them turned to see the Man-Crab swinging its massive claw towards them, breaking the column they were hiding behind.

As the claw swung towards them, almost going in slow motion for him, he knew he only had enough time to either duck or push Velma just out of range from the claw's swing. He knew this would hurt but he didn't care since he could handle this more than she could.

Velma watched as Naruto quickly pushed her away just as the claw hit him in the side and sent him flying back through a few stalagmite until he slammed against the wall.

"Naruto!" Velma yelled, her eyes widening in shock and fear as she ran towards her friend, not even caring for the Man-Crab that had changed its attention to Shaggy and Scooby who were running up the stairway, destroying it in the process.

"Damn, that really hurt more than I was expecting" he groaned out as Velma helped him sit up with a frown on her face and slight tears in her eyes.

"What the hell was that!? You could have gotten seriously hurt Naruto!" Velma yelled, clutching onto his shirt as she looked him in the eyes.

"Compared to the thought of you getting hurt I'd say this is worth it" he said with a smile as Velma frowned and quickly looked at his back, gasping a bit at the cuts on his back and blood from the wounds.

"You idiot! You're lucky nothing broke" Velma said as Fred and Daphne rushed over.

"Oh my god Naruto! Are you okay?" Daphne asked as Fred helped him up.

"Yeah I'm fine. You guys should hurry after Shag and Scoob, I think they are leading the Man-Crab back to the trap" Naruto said as Fred frowned.

"I mean I'm all for seeing my trap work but will you be okay?" Fred asked as Naruto draped his arm over Velma's shoulder.

"I'll be fine, I have Velma by my side. You guys go make sure the criminal gets caught" he said as Fred nodded.

"Oh and the criminal might be Bud Shelton, I noticed something on an article while at the library. And when you capture him can you maybe get the Sheriff to send an EMT to help bandage up Naruto" Velma said as they both nodded before running off.

"Why do you always have to get yourself beat up Naruto?" Velma asked as she helped him walk through the cave, out towards the van, careful as not to strain his new wounds.

"Well they always go after you and I can't let you get hurt Velma, I refuse to ever let that happen" he said as he slid his arm down from her shoulder to around her waist, holding her close as she blushed and frowned at him.

"While you are bleeding is not the time to mess around" Velma said as she slid his arm back up to her shoulder, making him chuckle as he gave her shoulder a squeeze.

"So you're saying after I get patched up we can?" he asked, making her roll her eyes and her blush get a bit darker.

"W-We'll see. I probably am going to have to look after you tonight to make sure your wounds don't get infected so I don't know" Velma said, a bit embarrassed to refer to it as 'messing around'.

"Ooo does that mean you're my nurse?" He asked as he rubbed his chin, looking her over a few times before looking up at the night sky as they had just exited the cave. "I wonder do places sell nurses outfits this late at night and can we convince them to give us the sexy kind" he asked as Velma smacked his chest with a massive blush making him laugh and give her shoulder another squeeze.

"Aw you know I was just teasing," he said with a slight hiss as he sat down on the edge of the back of the van, his shirt brushing up against his cuts "that is unless you want to" he added as she rolled her eyes.

"Can you be serious for once?" Velma asked as he grew a massive smirk.

"Oh I'm being deadly serious. You in a nurse's outfit would be amazing" he said as she sighed and sat down next to him.

"Naruto you got hurt today, really bad and you are literally still bleeding. You have to be more careful" she said as she held his hand, softly squeezing it as he frowned.

"It'll take a lot more than some cuts and scrapes to keep me down Velma, you should know this. I would get hurt like this a hundred times over for you, that and that ass of yours" he added with a chuckle as he leaned back a bit to get a look at it.

Velma couldn't help but let out a laugh as this was Naruto. He wasn't the kind to fret over injuries and was the kind to make her stop worrying over him by always making her laugh.

"Ah there it is. You always look the most beautiful when you are smiling so please don't look sad for me" he said as he stroked her cheek, going in to kiss her on her soft cheek before flashlights of the EMT's made them move apart.

"Are you still staying the night?" he asked hissing slightly in pain as the EMT's disinfected his wounds and patched up his back, which apparently had 16 cuts on it. They told him he was lucky no chunks of rocks had been imbedded in them and that he didn't seem to have broken any bones.

"Of course, I don't want you letting them get infected and I have to change the bandages. You're just lucky they don't need stitches" she said as he chuckled before hissing again as they were finishing up the last few cuts.

"Yeah, never been a big fan of needles" he said as he saw the rest of the gang come walking up towards them. Daphne looked at him worried, as did Fred, while Shaggy and to a minor degree Scooby, neither seeming to really care all that much, had seemed to ditch any notion of Velma's request to eat healthier as he was wolfing down food like usual.

"How are you doing Naruto?" Daphne asked as he shrugged as best as he could, careful not to make the EMT's job any more difficult.

"I'm fine, a few cuts but Velma promised to be my nurse so I'm pretty happy about that" he said with a smile as he knew Fred was a bit too dense to get what that meant and Shaggy and Scooby were 100 percent focused on eating so only Daphne understood what it meant.

Daphne blushed a bit as the EMT left and she smiled happily at him "Good luck Naruto" she said happy that at least one of them was having luck with their crush. While happy for her friend she couldn't help but feel a tad jealous, Naruto and Velma were becoming closer but she and Fred had made no progress.

Almost reading the emotions in Daphne's eyes he rubbed her shoulder, smiling up at her. "You know Fred was absolutely devastated when you got taken. He was frantic about you, I doubt he realizes just what all that means" he said making Daphne's eyes light up a bit as she quickly sat down next to him while Fred and Velma talked about if she had been right about who it was.

"Really? He was worried about me?" Daphne asked, hope filling her voice as Naruto chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah, he might be incredibly dense but he seems to have some feelings deep inside that trap filled head of his. I figure if you keep pushing you will be able to break through it" he said with an encouraging smile.

As Velma watched the EMT continue working on Naruto she remembered how this was the third time he had leapt to defend her: first being against Professor Ruffalo, second against the Gater siblings, and now against the Man-Crab.

Each time he said he didn't even need to think twice about it due to his feelings for her.

And yet here she was still stringing him along and **that** had been eating her up for too long, deciding that it was time to step up for once.

"Hey Shaggy, can I talk with you, alone?" Velma asked, looking at him as he was mid-bite into a sandwich.

"U-Uh, like, sure" Shaggy said, putting down his sandwich and a bit nervous before he followed Velma away from the group. "So like, what do you need to talk about? I don't want Scoob to, like, worry" he added, making Velma sigh as this only cemented that this was the correct thing to do.

"That, we need to talk about that" she said, looking up at him. "We are dating but you only seem to care more about Scooby and are constantly worried he might find out about us" she said, frowning up at him as Shaggy couldn't meet her eyes and was rubbing his arm nervously.

"Shaggy you are a good friend, you really are, but you really aren't a good boyfriend. Relationships are supposed to be something two-way but this is just me hitting a brick wall at the end of a one way street" she said, looking up at him as Shaggy frowned and nodded, unable to say anything in response to it as deep down he knew she was right.

"Like, I'm sorry Velm, I just-don't worry about it" Shaggy tried to say before Velma stopped him with a smile.

"It's my fault, I tried to make something that just wasn't going to work. You weren't into it from the start and that's fine...I was able to really see that due to someone else" she said before taking a deep breath before looking up to him with a big smile. "So what do you say Shaggy? Still friends?" she asked, holding out her hand which caused the tall teen to smile and nod before shaking her hand.

"Of course Velms, we'll like, always be friends" Shaggy said, silently really thankful for it ending this way, in a way that didn't result in her angry or sad, which was definitely a good as the last thing he wanted was to ruin their friendship.

As Velma made her way back to Naruto and the others she felt a mix of things, she felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders but also a bit upset that things with Shaggy hadn't worked out. But in the end that was for the best as trying to force something to work only hurt those involved.

"You okay Velma?" Naruto asked, feeling something was up as Velma came to sit next to him as the EMT finished bandaging him up.

"Yeah, I'm a lot better now" she said softly as she leaned against his shoulder with a light smile on her face.

"Okay gang, let's go relax at Angel's after a good mystery solved," Fred said with a smile before turning to Naruto "we'll drop you and Velma off at your place first. I do hope you get better soon" he added as Naruto chuckled.

"I'll be fine, I understand relaxing after something like all of this is good so enjoy yourselves at Angel's" Naruto said as he gave Daphne a pat on the back with a wink as he scooted back into the van with Velma's help as Shaggy decided to sit up front.

"You know you don't have to come straight home with me if you don't want to. I'm sure Fred can drop you back off at my apartment after you all are done hanging out with Angel" he said as she shook her head.

"And leave you alone to possibly mess up the EMT's work and get all hurt all over again? No thanks" Velma said with a frown as Naruto pulled her closer to him, letting her rest her head on his chest.

"Thanks for worrying" he said softly as she smiled and put her hand softly on his chest.

"Somebody has to" she said as they both enjoyed the closeness while the drive in the van was comfortably quiet.

"We'll come by and check on you tomorrow to see how you're doing" Fred said as Naruto chuckled, making sure to grab the book he had taken from the library out of the back of the van.

"Call ahead next time, I'm not a big fan of surprise visits" he said as he was starting to get really sick and tired of things interrupting his time with Velma.

"I'll make sure he does. Hope you feel better tomorrow" Daphne said with a smile as they drove off, leaving him and Velma in front of his apartment.

Velma smiled a bit 'At least no one will interrupt our-I mean him, him while he heals' she thought, quickly stopping her mind from thinking 'our time'. Though she did feel a bit bad thinking like this given she did just dump Shaggy

As Naruto watched Velma walk ahead of him he frowned a bit, feeling something was up with her. "Are you sure you are okay Velma?" he asked her, not even using the fact she was ahead of him on the stairs to sneak a peek at her butt.

"Yeah I'm fine Naruto" Velma said quickly as she reached his door. "Let's just get inside" she said, using his key to open the door, just about to walk inside before he stopped her, wrapping his arms around her waist and nestling his face in the crook of her neck.

"Talk to me Velma, I know you well enough to know when you are upset and trying to hide it" he told her, making her freeze as she lowered her head a bit, her hands going to his and giving them a squeeze.

'He really does know me…' Velma thought with a smile, almost laughing as this was so much like Naruto and just cemented how her reason for choosing him over Shaggy was the right one.

"It's really nothing, at least now it is" she said, moving her hand up to run her hand through his hair. "Now let's get inside and lay you down" she added, looking at him with a smile as that seemed to be enough to get him to let go but not without a very soft kiss to her neck.

"Now lay down, I'm going to go change and we can maybe relax and watch a movie before bed" she said as he nodded, figuring waiting for her to change wouldn't be that much longer of a delay.

Naruto smiled as he watched her while she left for his room before laying down on his stomach on the couch to not hurt his cuts anymore. He flipped through the channels as he craned his neck to the side waiting for Velma before he saw her walk in front of the tv.

"Care to make room?" she asked before Naruto quickly sat up with a smile. She though steeled her nerves as she walked straight towards him before sitting on his lap, straddling it with one leg on either side of his legs.

"V-Velma? What are you doi-" he started to ask before she silenced him with a finger to his lips.

"Let me talk for a moment okay?" she asked as he nodded, seeing the serious look in her eyes as she took a deep breath.

"You see something did happen tonight Naruto. I….broke up with Shaggy" she told him, noticing the widening of his eyes but thankfully he didn't say anything. "I've done a lot of thinking since you confessed and I really tried to give Shaggy a chance so it didn't seem like I was dropping him instantly but….he just didn't work, not like I can see you working" she said, cupping his cheek with a soft smile and a blush.

"You getting injured to protect me and everything from always looking out for me and protecting me to just knowing if something was wrong with me just shows and proves how this might work out better than that did" she finished before she leaned in and captured his lips in a soft kiss that she hoped convey her emotions.

Naruto was floored by everything Velma had said, her revealing she had dumped Shaggy had made him nearly grow a massive smile. And the fact that she kissed him nearly knocked him out before his body naturally reacted, kissing her back as his hands went to her hips.

As this was the first kiss between him and Velma he didn't want to ruin it by pushing things too far, allowing her to decide how long it went on for. Either way, despite it not going on for as long as he wanted it to, the kiss was amazing.

"I-I don't want to rush into things. I just broke up with Shaggy so for me to immediately date you seems a bit bad so...can we wait a bit before we are officially dating?" she asked before he smiled and rubbed her sides before kissing her cheek softly.

"Of course, I've had a crush on you for as long as I can remember so what is a little waiting after that long?" he asked before his hands slid down to her butt. "Though I hope I can still enjoy things like this" he told her, making her blush before smiling as she scooted closer to him and put her hands on his shoulders.

"You just can't keep your hands off me, can you?" she asked, using the confidence of the moment to drive her to press her butt against his hands more, causing him to squeeze and rub it.

"Sorry, I really can't" he said with a chuckle, giving her ass another squeeze as his hands slid under the legs of her short shorts, allowing him to rub her ass over her panties.

Velma bit her lip a bit as he rubbed her ass, her panties being the only layer now between her bare ass and his hands. "I guess you wouldn't be you if you didn't and given you did save me...I guess you deserve a reward" she told him, blushing a bit as she scooted back and stood up off his lap before she started to slide down her short shorts, kicking them off and sitting back down on his lap.

"Wow, how bold of you Velma" Naruto whispered out in her ear, his hands slowly moving up her thighs while he softly nibbled at her ear, making her shiver a bit and let out a soft gasp.

"W-Well, we were interrupted this morning and after everything I felt this is the least I could do" she said, wrapping her arms around his neck with a blush while she continued to feel him rub and grope her ass.

"Oh so you were frustrated at being interrupted as well?" he asked her with a big smirk, only making her blush darken and turn her face to the side in an attempt to hide it.

"O-Of course I was...it was getting really heated before we got interrupted and while this isn't what we were doing this morning it's still good, right?" Velma asked, a bit worried before Naruto's smile erased her fears.

"Velma I'd be happy just being able to hold you close. Don't think I'm just some pervert who is happy to grab on you, not that I'm not happy that you let me as you could tell me no and I'd listen. Then again I don't think you'd seriously tell me to stop" Naruto told her with a playful smirk as he cupped her cheek to gently turn her head back towards him before giving her another kiss.

This kiss though didn't stay light for long, Velma cupping his cheeks while his hands went back to her ass as they started to make out.

Velma felt her head become hazy feeling, her thoughts becoming harder to think as she moaned, her hands running through Naruto's hair as his tongue invaded her mouth and his hands started to grope her ass just slightly under her panties.

As his hands inched further and further under her panties Velma had to break the kiss to let out a moan as he grabbed both of her cheeks from under her panties. The feeling of it sent a powerful a jolt through her and making her involuntarily press up against him which in turn made him fall back onto his injuries and the sound of him hissing out in pain instantly brought her out of it.

"Oh Naruto, I'm sorry!" Velma quickly said, sitting up and allowing him to sit back up.

"It's okay Velma, my fault a bit due to making you weak like that" he said, chuckling as he pulled his hands out from under her panties.

"Maybe we should wait until you are healed up so I don't hurt you again" she said, frowning a bit while she rubbed his cheek, finding how he pressed against her hand to be cute. "For now how does cuddling as we lay on the couch and watch some movies sound?" she asked as he smiled and kissed her palm.

"Sounds wonderful as you do make an adorable little spoon" he before he wrapped his arms around her waist and flopped onto his side suddenly, making her squeal and laugh at as he smiled at her, unbelievably happy just to be able to be able to hold her like this.

Sure he's done it in the past but now, he didn't have that bad feeling in his stomach about it. Now she was basically his, all he had to do was wait a little bit longer and with that in his sights he was more than content with waiting a tiny bit longer.

 **-Chapter End-**

Okay so yeah, been a while since I've updated on this account (mainly due to personal stuff) but I'm going to try my best to write more for this account a bit

Now this chapter had Velma and Shaggy break up a whole lot sooner (and on better terms) as the NTR aspect of this story wasn't sitting too well. It also allows him and Velma to grow even closer a whole lot easier as there isn't the looming shadow of Shaggy over Velma.

I felt given Naruto has been protecting/saving Velma paired with taking a hard hit for her she would really be able to make her choice and whatnot you know?

The break up was done early as it seems, without noticing it, a lot of my alt account stories are NTR-esque you know? lol

I also made a minor change to my MLP story which is removing Mr. Cake (as the whole cucking thing felt really really weird). So now in that story Mrs. Cake is Ms. Cake (just letting you all know)

I hope you all liked this chapter and look forward to some more in the future

Until Next Time

Rate and Review!

Buh-Bye!


	4. Chapter 4

**Fox of Crystal Cove**

 **Chapter 4**

'The will of the nine will always be drawn to form the X' Naruto read as he was able to use a cipher found in the third book to decode something in the sixth book, which was his most recent find. Though even with the cipher didn't understand what 'the X' meant at all in the slightest despite understanding that the 'will of the nine' meant the nine apparent spirits.

'God the more books I find the more I learn but the less I understand' he thought before quickly putting the book away as he heard the door to the bathroom open, turning to see Velma walking over to the table. Even while she was still half asleep she looked too cute, her eyes struggling to stay open as she walked through the kitchen still without her pajama bottoms.

It might have been a few days since it happened but he was still taking it in that she had finally dumped Shaggy. That all more or less meant that the plump butt and the great girl it was attached to was essentially his without any odd feelings or lingering uncertainties.

"Morning there Velma, how did you sleep?" Naruto asked, pulling a seat out for her and helping drive her to it as she wobbled a bit before sitting down. "Here, drink your coffee and revive yourself" he teased her, kissing her cheek and getting a happy but sleep smile from her as he gave a cup of her morning coffee.

"Thanks Naruto, that feels so much better" Velma sighed out with a smile, fully waking up as she drank her coffee and fixed her glasses. "So how is your back feeling? Still sore?" she asked, worried a bit about him as, with him being shirtless, she was reminded of his injury a few nights ago.

"I'm fine, it barely stings anymore after the second day so after four it's more than okay" he told her while he reached across the table to grab and squeeze her hand. He was just glad that he was finally able to ease her worries now that he was all healed up since he knew she felt a bit guilty for him getting hurt back when it happened.

But they both knew he'd willingly get hurt again if it meant keeping her safe, something she was a bit annoyed about but knew she couldn't do anything about it except be more careful.

"I'm glad to hear" Velma said, smiling softly as she blushed a bit since she was still taking it in that she had dumped Shaggy and was essentially dating Naruto in all but coming out and saying. The only reason she hadn't was mainly because it felt a bit odd to go from one boy immediately to another.

"Though I am a bit sad that I didn't get you to dress up in a nurse's outfit since that truly would have been amazing" he told her with a wink and a smirk as she blushed darkly and looked away with a frown.

"Quiet you pervert….maybe next time" she muttered, quietly adding the last part which made him smile at before they finished breakfast.

As they sat on the couch together, Velma close to him and basically hugging his arm, he couldn't help but smile while this was more or less the same as always it felt much more relaxed. It was almost as if they were much more content around each other, something he wasn't aware could happen since they were always at ease when around one another.

"So, what should we do today? Think we can maybe get a day to ourselves without the others calling?" Naruto asked, draping his arm over her shoulders and pulling her in closer which caused her to hug him a bit and rest her head on his chest.

"I'd love to relax as well but we'll see how it goes. For now let's just enjoy it before it potentially changes" she told him as she adjusted herself so she could get comfortable against him like this, smiling up at him as he smiled back.

"So does that mean still no pants cause I'll be honest I kind of want that to be an everyday thing when we are home alone" Naruto confessed, reaching down a bit to rub her plump butt, smiling as he groped one of her cheeks a bit which caused her to let out the cutest little moan only to stop as she playfully slapped his hand.

"Behave Naruto or I will put on pants" she threatened with a glare he could tell had no anger behind it, partially due to her dark blush on her face. Her tone showed the threat was real, quickly getting him to pull his hand away with a frown. "If you're good we can…fool around tonight" she said quickly her face heating up to show she was still not entirely confident when it came to stuff like this.

Personally that only made her cuter and sexier to him, making him want to make her blush even more.

"Fine, I'll behave but it'll be tough" he whined out a bit, kissing the top of her head as she smiled proudly that he was listening to her. "Though you have to at least give me this~" he told her, making her let out an 'eep' as he grabbed her and set her on his lap so he could hug her from behind.

Velma blushed a bit, looking back at him over her shoulder with a pout only to see him smiling back before he pulled at her shirt a bit to kiss her bare shoulder which made her shiver a bit. "F-Fine but none of that mister" she stuttered out a bit before he smiled and hugged her closer to him.

"Okay as this is more than good enough for me" he told her but before he could really enjoy the moment her phone went off, making Naruto groan as he buried his face in her back. "Of course…Fred is why I can't have nice things I swear" he grumbled as Velma gave him a sorry smile as she answered the phone.

Velma smiled softly, rubbing Naruto's hand that had moved to her thigh as he kept his face buried in her back. "Okay, we'll be ready by then. Bye" Velma said before she hung up and heard Naruto groan again.

"So tell me doc, how bad is it?" he whined out, making her giggle a bit as he rested his head on her shoulder.

"Fred wants us to be there for him as his dad called him in to meet him at his office so I'm afraid it's pretty serious. I promise though we'll have more time to ourselves later" she told him, patting his cheek as he pouted before he sighed.

"Fiiiiine….for Fred since he's our friend" Naruto said with a smile, letting Velma stand up first if nothing more so he could see her butt again, something she knew was the case and gave him an extra something by fixing her panties a bit after they had started to slide up between her cheeks.

"Come on, that's enough looking, get dressed. My butt isn't going anywhere as you can always look more later" she told him, trying to shoo him off the couch before he stood up and kissed her cheek.

"Yes ma'am, I'll be sure to remember your words when we get back" he told her with a slight growl as he gave her ass a light smack before quickly slipping away and into his room before she could retort.

"I swear you are such a pervert" Velma grumbled out, still blushing as she rubbed the cheek he had smacked. "…But then again I guess you're my pervert" she added softly with a smile before she waited for him to get dressed so she could get dressed after him.

 **-City Hall-**

"Again, I really am sorry for calling you guys here but thanks for showing up as I really needed the support. It's never a good thing when my dad calls me to meet in his office" Fred told them as the group, minus Daphne as she had told them she was busy with something at home, stopped following him as he stopped in front of his father's office.

"Like dude, no problemo" Shaggy said as he waved him off while Scooby nodded beside him.

"Reah, no probremo" Scooby mirrored with a smile of his own.

"Exactly, what more are friends for?" Naruto told friend as he might complain about losing alone time with Velma his friends meant a lot so if one of them was in need he'd of course be happy to help them. He also understood Fred's nervousness around being called to City Hall since his father was rather…pushy about getting Fred into politics.

"Too bad Daphne couldn't make it. Trust me she'd love to be here for you if she could" Velma said since everyone, save for Scooby and Fred himself, knew of Daphne's feelings for Fred. Naruto felt bad for Daphne at times as there was dense and then there was Fred.

"Ah Fred my boy!" Fred's dad, Fred Jones Sr, said as he exited his office, getting Fred to turn around with a bit of a frown. "Today is a very exciting day for you because today you learn the family business. Politics!" he added with a smile as with him being the long running mayor of Crystal Cove he wanted to pass that onto Fred by teaching him his ways.

"Politics? But that's adult stuff. Kids my age are into traps and solving mysteries" Fred said as his dad just looked at him with a look that showed he was barely listening.

"No they're not son," he said which Naruto somewhat agreed with as his group was very much an outlier of normal kids – plus the traps part was purely Fred's obsession "you're going to learn all the vital things I do for this community. Like create pamphlets and strategize about new places to put parking meters" he went on as Velma scooted closer to him and Shaggy.

"I know another place he can put a parking meter" Velma said with a frown as Fred's dad and the Sheriff were two of the bog people who often placed 'tourist attractions' over public safety.

"Fine, what do you want me to do?" Fred asked in a defeated tone before his dad didn't seem to notice as he smiled.

"Help me get re-elected as mayor! Make me 40,000 copies of this campaign pamphlet" he told Fred before he patted him on the arm and headed off back into his office.

"Don't worry Fred, we'll get these made and then we can go back to solving mysteries that we find ourselves in the middle of. It'll be easy" Naruto told Fred, patting him on the back as Shaggy nodded and took the pamphlet from Fred.

"Yeah Freddie, we'll get him elected again in like no time" Shaggy said while Scooby nodded.

"Vote for Fred Senior, vote for Fred Senior" he said before he took the pamphlet from Shaggy, quickly setting it under the lid of a nearby copy machine and proceeded to mash the buttons rapidly which only got smoke to start to billow out of it.

The group watched as the machine started to beep faster and faster, shaking with more and more smoke puffing out of it before they quickly knew what was going to happen. As they hid behind a nearby bench it didn't take long before they heard the copier explode, looking up to see ink everywhere.

"Okay, one: who let the dog mash buttons and two: why didn't anyone close to him stop him?" Naruto asked with a flat look as he, and everyone else looked at Scooby who at least had the decency to look a bit sheepish as he chuckled a bit.

"Look what you have done to my new suit!" a clearly upset male voice yelled out from nearby, getting them to look beside them to see someone rather covered in ink.

The man was easily as old as Fred's dad, darker skin with a thin mustache and black hair that had a few somewhat thick grey streaks in it. His suit was mainly olive green with an ascot that had an avocado on it. He looked very much annoyed as he tried to wipe ink off of him.

Scooby frowned nervously as he sniffed the man before laughing a bit sheepishly. "Vote for Fred Senior?" he suggested as the man still didn't look happy.

"What's the problem here…Avocados?" Mayor Jones asked as he walked up to the man with a raised eyebrow and looked the man over.

"It's Avocados!" he said, his pronunciation very 'po-tay-to po-tah-to'-esque. "And if you want to dirty campaign Jones two can play at that game" the 'Avocado' guy said as he stomped off.

"You'd think if he didn't want his name mispronounced like that he'd wear a less….avocado themed suit" Naruto muttered as he watched the guy walk away while Velma nodded beside him which a slight giggle.

"Gee dad, who was that guy?" Fred asked as the others also watched the man walk off.

"George Avocados, the person I'm running against. He considers himself a shoe in for the job because his father Theodore Avocados was mayor once. That was until he was caught stealing a priceless diamond from Crystal Cove bank" Mayor Jones explained as the others started to gather around him a bit.

"Jinkies! What happened?" Velma asked as diamond theft was pretty intense.

"The diamond was never found but Theodore went to jail and George has claimed his innocence ever since" Mayor Jones told them before he looked at the ink and the broken copier. "As for the pamphlets I'm sure there are a few more copiers around just…don't let the dog mess with it" he told them before Naruto gave a salute with two fingers.

"Don't worry sir, it happening once was more than enough" he told him, the mayor nodding before he headed back into his office.

"Okay I'm thinking it's best if we divide and conquer. Naruto and I will find go find two copiers nearby to use, Fred you stay with Shaggy and Scooby while using another" Velma said since they all knew just using one copier for 40,000 copies was going to take forever but dividing it between three copiers was going to make it go a lot faster.

"Got it, I think the machine made one copy before it exploded" Fred told them, grabbing the copy before handing them the original. "Come on guys, lets get to work!" he said as they split up.

"So...should I expect all copying or does the bespectacled beauty have some ulterior motives in mind?" Naruto asked her, walking behind her as he tilted his head to the side with a smile as he stared down at her ass.

"Behave and who knows~" she purred out a bit, adding a bit of sway to her hips as she smiled back at him.

As they each set up the copies to print as much as the 13 thousand plus that they'd need, confident the copies wouldn't all be able to do them in one go, Naruto smiled as he sat next to Velma.

"Got to say I'm glad there is no awkwardness between Shaggy and me, makes this a lot easier" Velma said with a smile, leaning against him as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Yeah, hopefully that means we'll be able to come out as a couple soon" Naruto said as he kissed the top of her head while she patted his chest with a smile. "Though, I'm not rushing you or anything. You know that, right?" he added with a smile, getting her to giggle a bit and look up at him.

"Don't worry I know as for someone so impatient when it comes to things you are always so patient with me" she said, leaning up to kiss him which he happily returned since he was always happy when she initiated a kiss or anything in general.

"So I was thinking, since no one seems to be around and I've been a good boy," Naruto said with a smirk as he put his hands on her hips and moved her over so she was now straddling his lap "how about we use this small window of opportunity" he whispered in her ear, nibbling it softly as she moaned and bit her lip.

"F-Fine but nothing too much you hear me" she warned, a dark blush on her cheeks as she was nervous about doing stuff in public like this before she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Don't worry, I won't do anything too bad as we are in a public place. I may like some danger but I'm not going to get us in any actual trouble" he assured her, kissing her softly as his hands went under her skirt to grope her ass. Her attempts to muffle and silence her moans into his shoulder only made him grope and knead her ass even more.

'H-He is way too good at playing with my ass' Velma thought as she bit her lip and clenched his shirt in both hands. "What is with you and my ass?" she moaned out softly as she looked over to him, panting a bit as he continued to kiss and suck on her neck.

"I seriously can't help it, your ass is just too amazing~" Naruto admitted, sliding his hand under her panties and finding her sharp inhale to show that his hands on her bare ass had strong effects on her.

It definitely wasn't an exaggeration for him to say he could play around with her ass for hours and not get bored since he just loved how it felt in his hands and the cute noises she made from him playing with it.

"O-Okay mister, I think that's enough for now" Velma told him, her blush still dark on her cheeks as she panted a bit and struggled to push him back due to her body liking it a bit too much.

"Aww…okay fine but," he started to say, smiling as he grabbed her panties and pulled them up a bit to make the back of them get wedged between her cheeks "at least let me see it" he asked as her surprised reaction to it mixed with her now darker blush made her look so damn sexy.

"Really? You really are a pervert" she huffed at him, making him smile as he kissed her cheek.

"Only with you" he whispered in her ear which sent a shiver down her spine before she pouted a bit.

"….Fine" she grumbled as she got up from his lap, frowning a bit – more out of embarrassment – as she turned around and pulled up the back of her skirt knowing full well her panties looked like a thong due him pulling them up.

"Damn, you really do look amazing~" he growled out, cupping her plump cheeks before he leaned forward to kiss one of them, making her let out a surprised moan that she quickly had to stop by covering her mouth. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself" he told her with a chuckle as she nodded and cleared her throat.

"W-Well that is enough for now as we have work to do" Velma said, him kissing her ass like that being more 'shocking' than she thought it'd be. 'Maybe my ass really is too sensitive to him' she thought as she knew she'd have to focus on other stuff or else…she might have to go home and get a change of panties.

By the time they were done, the insane amount of 40 thousand pamphlets being done sooner than expected due to 'dividing and conquering', the sun was already starting to set once they picked Daphne up and drove through town.

"We sure missed you today Daph, is everything okay at home?" Fred asked as Velma sat between him and Daphne, Naruto as always, with Scooby and Shaggy in the back.

"Sure! Yeah! Of course! That's a weird question" Daphne said quickly, her tone making it very clear she was jittery and nervous which only got a raised eyebrow from Naruto, Velma, and Fred.

"Oh boy! After all that campaigning I can't wait to dig into a triple clam pizza at the Clam Cabin" Shaggy said only making Naruto groan a bit as Scooby nodded.

"Reah! I'm with you Raggy" Scooby said, already having a red bib tied around his neck and holding a fork and knife in his paws while he licked his lips excitedly.

"Um, why are we going there again? Two of us don't like it and one of us can't even eat there, shouldn't we be going to a non-seafood place?" Naruto asked Velma as he crossed his arms on the back of the front seats and looked over at the two girls as they drove.

"Don't worry we'll go somewhere better for the rest of us after, right?" Velma said, asking Fred as he nodded before Naruto turned and leaned back against the back of the seat before they arrived.

Once they piled out of the van Naruto quickly caught Velma as she started to fall after Scooby barreled past her and Shaggy. "Whoa easy there Scooby, the Clam Cabin isn't going anywhere" Naruto told Scooby as the dog was the first to the door only to pause with his paws on the door, clearly confused.

"Rey, There's no doorknob" Scooby said, turning back to them as they walked up to see that the crystal doorknob, the kind that basically every building around town had, was gone.

"Now we can't get in" Shaggy said, Naruto sighing a bit in relief as after seeing 'clam ice cream' he was definitely not one for seeing any kind of clam concoction that came out of this place – despite Skipper being a rather nice guy. "Oh boy, like my stomach gets very grumpy when I don't feed it" he added as his stomach was growling loudly.

"We be all closed!" Skipper's voice yelled out from inside, them watching as he walked up to the porthole window on the front door. "Someone stole me crystal doorknobs just like that clam who stole me nose!" he told them before he walked back into his cabin and away from the door.

"That's kind of weird, who would want to steal doorknobs?" Fred asked as Naruto nodded with a frown.

"Especially when they are so common and not worth anything" Naruto said as the 'crystal' was literally just glass. Sure they had a ton of crystal to use here but the town had gotten extra 'penny pinching' with it and started using glass instead a good few years back. "All in all, seems like no clams today. Might I suggest burgers? There is a good place nearby that has veggie burgers for Daphne" he went on as he knew Daphne wasn't always up for meat, a bit of thoughtfulness that made Daphne smile at.

"Okay, that works" Shaggy said in a disappointed tone, it clear he was craving clams but willing to go somewhere else for food.

Their dinner was nice and relaxing, despite Shaggy and Scooby being insanely messy eaters. Naruto enjoyed it though as he got a seat next to Velma and was able to scooch close to her which she seemed to like as well.

"You know I heard someone stole all the crystal doorknobs at school" Daphne told them as they drove down the road beside the mountain on their way back to town. During their meal she had talked to a few other kids from school to get the 'news' from them.

"My mom and dad said they were missing from the haunted museum too" Velma said as she had texted her mom and a few people as well to get.

"Seriously, you'd think there would be better stuff to steal other than doorknobs. This sounds more like a prank I'd do and I'm a bit upset I didn't think of it" Naruto said, his head resting on the back of the seats between Velma and Daphne.

Velma and Daphne both smiled and rolled their eyes at him, his response being very fitting as they had asked him if it was a prank of his when they learned it was happening all around town.

Naruto perked up a bit as he heard the sound of a mix of thunder and lightning before a bright pair of headlights peered through the fog behind them, the sound of a loud truck horn blaring which got everyone in the van to cringe at. What really made him worry a bit was how the horn almost sounded like a growl that was unlike any animal near the end.

"Somebody should tell the neckbeard driving that truck to dial it back" Velma said before the truck bumped into them, shaking the van as Fred focused on keeping them going as they screamed a bit and the back doors to the van swung open.

"Oh crap…" Naruto muttered, his eyes wide as the way the truck looked he felt this wasn't going to be good.

He helped keep Shaggy and Scooby from sliding back as Fred continued driving, trying to out run the truck. It seemed to barely work, them just a bit ahead of it as whether it be skinnier streets or curves a normal truck that size couldn't normally go through it didn't seem to care and kept driving despite property damage.

"Stay back you two!" Naruto yelled as he pulled Shaggy and Scooby back from the back doors as the truck sped up, just in time as it slammed into them, the spikey metal 'pilot' that was on the front poked into the back of the van.

Everyone was screaming as it reared up and slammed into them again, sending them off the road and down the side of the mountain. The screaming continued, Naruto mainly shutting his eyes tight as he braced for an impact of any kind whether it be rocks or water only for nothing to come and the screaming to stop.

"Guys, we're not falling anymore" Velma told them, being the first to really open her eyes before looking back at him and smiling that they were safe.

"Geez, talk about a lucky break" Fred said as, from looking out the front window they were under a yard away from falling into the ocean. But, just as he said those words, the same thunder noise rang out with a truck horn blaring seconds after.

"Not that lucky" Daphne said as Fred reversed out of the little inlet they had landed in, Naruto closing the back doors to the van, before he sped back off.

"What the hell is with this thing and why is it trying to kill us!" Naruto yelled as they entered the tunnel since he was never fond of being almost murdered as the most they got was slightly hurt with the weird going ons of this town.

Naruto held onto the back of the seats as Fred weaved the van back and forth to avoid it trying to slam into them, feeling Velma's hand over his. As they exited the tunnel he felt them spin around and slide over to the side of the road to avoid being hit and to let the truck zoom on past them.

"Sometimes….I hate this town" Naruto groaned as he slumped down against the back of the front seats, already hearing Daphne calling the police to report what had just happened.

It didn't take them long to show up, Sherriff Stone arriving since more often than not he responded to calls made by them.

"Okay kids, what did you call me for this time" the Sherriff said with a frown as they looked around amongst each other before all eyes going to Naruto who sighed.

'Always me it seems. Makes sense since I tend to stand up to the guy' Naruto thought before he started to explain to the Sherriff what all had just happened.

He knew it was best for him to talk to the Sherriff as if he started with the usual 'tourist attraction' skit, since the Sherriff and the Mayor had a 'money over public safety' type of policy, he'd call him out on it better than the others would.

"So you're saying this ghost truck disappeared like a….ghost truck?" the Sherriff asked while Naruto sighed.

"It didn't disappear, it sped off into the fog. Very different" he told him but as the Sherriff smiled Naruto knew the man hadn't really listened.

"We-e-ell, seems like you kids might have stumbled onto a new tourist attraction" the man said, getting Naruto to take a deep breath to stay calm.

"Ah yes, come to Crystal Cove and get almost killed by a truck – not ghost truck – as it tries to plow into you and drive you off the road and into the ocean! That won't get the city sued up the ass!" Naruto yelled, glaring at man as Velma took a step forward, her hand on his arm to try and calm him down.

"Plus we aren't even sure it was a ghost as we couldn't see inside due to the windows being bright and glowing" she said, trying to diffuse the situation as while Naruto was best to talk to the Sherriff it often resulted in Naruto getting angry at the man.

"Sorry but all I see is a text-book case of Ghost Truck, case closed!" the Sherriff yelled before he turned and started to head back to his cruiser and drive off.

"Ugh! I hate that man! People almost get killed and all he cares about is 'tourist attractions'" Naruto grumbled as he turned around ready to stomp off back to the van only to raise an eyebrow as he noticed Fred kneeling down next to the street. "Uh Fred? What are you doing?" Naruto asked, getting everyone's attention over to Fred.

"I think I might have found something, Daphne let me borrow your camera phone" Fred asked before Daphne walked over to him, pulled out her phone, and handed it over to him before he took a picture of the street with it.

"Yup, the phone's low res camera brightened the contrast. You see what I see gang?" he asked them, holding up the camera to show a picture of tire tracks on it.

"What kind of a ghost leaves tire tracks?" Shaggy asked as Velma rubbed her chin a bit.

"Add to that a bunch of missing crystal doorknobs and we got one seriously weird mystery on our hands" Velma said while Naruto chuckled a bit

"Okay now that makes me want to look forward to figuring out how whoever is behind this made the tires able to be on fire without, you know, exploding" Naruto said as despite it almost killing them the flaming tires was pretty badass.

Velma's response though was interrupted as Daphne's phone started to ring and Fred, not sure what was going on in his head, answered it on speaker phone.

"Hello Daphne's phone" he said with a smile, seemingly having no problem with it despite it being an odd thing to do. But then again it was Fred.

"Daphne, Rung here. Yeah must have missed your call. Anyway our date is on for tomorrow night at the Bloody Stake" this 'Rung' guy said, his tone screaming pretentious to Naruto as they looked to Daphne.

"Oh um, well ah" Daphne tried to explain, struggling with her words to make an excuse before she was interrupted.

"Please, contain your excitement okay? I'll see you there" Rung said before he hung up, his inability to notice Daphne's uncertainty and her attempt to make an excuse showing he was also conceited a bit.

"Fred I can explain" Daphne said, quick to try and let her crush not potentially get the wrong idea as it might damage what little progress she's made.

"Oh no need! This Rung guy really sounds cool and fun too" Fred told her, handing her phone back to him and getting a confused look from Daphne and somewhat 'sorry' looks from the rest since even they knew that was bad.

"That pretentious stuck up dude sounded cool…and fun?" Naruto whispered to Velma who could only give a tired shrug of her shoulders as it seemed that the thickness of Fred's head grew as the days went by.

"What!? I mean, you want me to go?" Daphne asked in shock before her tone got sad, as if hurt that her crush was wanting her to go on a date with someone else.

"Of course! I love the Bloody Stake! Make sure to get the Vlad the Impaler cursed chicken on rice, it's to die" he told her before heading back to the van, Velma and Naruto staying behind to console her a bit.

"I'm guessing you didn't call that Rung guy?" Naruto asked as a sad Daphne shook her head.

"Look, if you are nervous about this guy or not wanting to go really how about Naruto goes with you, keeps an eye out in case the guy is unsavory" Velma suggested before Naruto put his hand gently on Daphne's shoulder.

"Plus this way it'd ease my nerves as something about how that guy talked made it very clear he has a punch-able face" Naruto said with a slight glare, smiling as Daphne laughed softly.

"Really? You'd lend him to me?" Daphne asked, making Velma smile this time as she squeezed Daphne's hand.

"Of course, a good friend lends out his eventual boyfriend to their friend" Velma whispered to her since Naruto had told her about Daphne being his 'comrade in arms' so to speak.

"Thanks Velma, that'd really make this a lot easier. You think I can grab him tomorrow around noon to help me get ready?" she asked before Velma patted Naruto on the back, getting him to lean down.

"Of course, he'll be ready and on his best behavior" Velma said, pinching Naruto's cheek playfully before she patted it and walked over to the van.

"So, eventual boyfriend eh?" Daphne asked with a teasing smirk, giggling a bit as Naruto blushed and looked away.

"I'll tell you about it tomorrow" he muttered, making her nod while still smiling.

"Oh I'll make sure you do" she said while following him back to the van.

As Naruto was dropped off, Velma sadly not being able to stay the night due to her mom complaining about her staying at his place so much, he sighed and flopped back onto his bed. 'Without her here it really seems empty, doesn't it?' he thought, turning onto his side before seeing one of the two books he had nearby.

He knew he needed to tell Velma about them and ask her for help but he knew how crazy this all sounded. A part of him was worried how she'd react since it all sounded too much to believe. 'The letter warned me of men in suits coming after me but not to keep entirely quiet…maybe I can find some help out there. Maybe I can go on an occult message board and keep it vague enough I'll still be able to stay safe. There has to be someone out there who knows what these things are since the supposed 'help' hasn't come yet' he continued on with a groan, picking up the books and tossing them onto his desk before opening up his laptop.

Trying to describe something that was so 'out there' vaguely was a bit harder than he thought it'd be honestly. After around an hour of pondering about how to word it he stuck with 'Owner of two books out of a set of nine, full of occult and supernatural knowledge. Beyond confusing. Need help of others who have parts of the series to decode'.

He included various other small bits of info, just hoped that was vague enough while still having info that might catch the eyes of those who actually have one of the books.

He just hoped that wasn't dangerous of him to do but, in the end, he needed some help and more info on things before he got Velma involved.

 **-Next Day-**

"This place is always a bit…much, no matter how many times I've come here" Naruto said as he walked into Daphne's mansion of a house after she arrived at his place, being driven by her dad, to bring him back to her place.

Her mansion was intense, bigger than his whole apartment complex and easily had more rooms than it. Now it wasn't like he was jealous or wanted somewhere like this for himself but it was more just him being reminded that despite Daphne being in a whole different world than them she was still down to earth and their friend.

"Thanks for having me over again Mr. and Mrs. Blake" Naruto said, bowing his head a bit to them as they smiled at him.

"Oh don't worry about it honey, you seriously are one of Daphne's more well behaved friends along with that Velma girl. And please, call us by our names Nan and Barty" Daphne's mom Nan said as Naruto nodded.

"I hear Daphne asked you to be a chaperone on her date?" Barty asked, getting Naruto to nod again.

"Yes sir, she was a bit nervous about it and asked if I'd keep an eye out for her. She is a good friend of mine so I want to make sure she feels safe" Naruto told him, looking him in the eyes as despite being told to call them by their first names that was more something he could potentially do with her mom as fathers were a bit different.

He didn't know why but Daphne's father – despite him being down to earth – was a different story, which was why as the man smiled and patted him on the back it relax a good bit.

"Looking out for my daughter, you're a good kid. Don't let anyone else tell you different" Barty said with smile before Daphne started to push Naruto and lead him towards her room.

"Okay that's enough dad, thanks! We'll be up in my room for a bit before I get ready so don't bother us please!" Daphne said as she urged him along, making Naruto chuckle as he let her rush him. "I swear my parents like you a bit too much" she told him the second her door was closed.

"I personally don't see that as a problem since that just means we can hang out easier" he told her with a chuckle and a shrug of his shoulders as she sat on her bed, him sitting in the chair that was in front of her vanity mirror desk after brining it in front of her bed.

"So, what is the plan for the date? I text you under the table from the neighboring booth while the guy goes on about how great he is or do I sit at the table and make him feel uncomfortable?" he asked with a smirk as either option sounded good to him.

"You being in the booth next to us sounds the best honestly but what I'm more interested in is you and Velma. Spill the beans mister" Daphne said, an excited and slightly giddy smile on her face as was almost bouncing as she sat on the edge of her bed.

He sighed as he was a bit nervous to tell her a bit of how it all happened but, as he recounted a bit of their moments – minus the really steamy parts – during their last three 'monsters' and the days between and after them, he made it very clear that he didn't hate or wanted to be mean to Shaggy. To him it was more just him frustrated that the man who was with the girl he loved was ignoring her and not caring about her feelings.

"Wow that is so romantic~ You being unable to hold yourself back, confessing and stealing a kiss while trying to win her over~" Daphne said dreamily with a sigh and a smile. "It sounds like something out of a soap opera" she added, giggling a bit as she saw Naruto blush a bit.

"I'm just glad I don't come off as a jerk though" he muttered as Daphne leaned forward and patted his knee with a smile.

"Don't worry you didn't as its clear you weren't doing all that to spite Shaggy but to show your love and feelings for Velma. I wish Fred could be like that….at all….even slightly" she said with a sigh before Naruto put his hand over hers and gave it a squeeze.

"One thing I need to tell you, no matter as how hard it is to hear, but don't push yourself to making it work between you and Fred" Naruto told her, looking her in the eyes as she looked back, her nervousness and worry clear in her eyes. "Velma was trying so hard with Shaggy and he was legit focused solely on Scooby rather than her, more worried about his dog than their relationship. Don't keep trying to convince yourself there is more than there could be" he continued, getting her to look down at the ground before she softly nodded which only made him frown before he squeezed her hand again to get her to look up.

"Hey, I'm not saying give up and stop I'm just saying…look out for yourself since trying to force something doesn't always work out" he told her, getting her to smile softly and nod before he stood up.

"Good! Now I think it's about time you get ready for your date with ladder boy" Naruto said before Daphne smiled and got up as well.

"I'm already good to go, I just used the 'getting ready' a bit as an excuse to have a private talk with you about you and Velma" she told him, smiling proudly before she hurried out of the room and back downstairs with Naruto following behind her.

"Oh good, your mother is waiting in the car out front. Don't keep her waiting Daphne" her father said before he motioned for Naruto to come over as Daphne headed outside. "Here, use this to pay for both dinners and keep whatever is left over" he told him as he handed him a few bills folded over.

Naruto gingerly took it before he widened his eyes at the amount. "S-Sir, this is 300 dollars! I-I can't take this" Naruto said, trying to give it back only for Barty to stop him with a gentle look on his face.

"We insist Naruto, you've been self-reliant for a good while, working at the Dinkley's museum and living on your own – something Nan and I respect – but let us help you at times. It's the least we can do for the son of Kushina" Barty said, putting a hand on his shoulder as this was another reason he was a bit nervous around Daphne's parents since back in high school Nan was his mother's best friend.

He felt a bit bad for taking their help, not as if he had some weird pride that made him refuse it or that they were looking down on him. He guessed it just really made it clear of sorts that his parents had disappeared and were gone.

After all these years he thought he'd get used to it and accept it but given how old he was when they did disappear it was bound to have some effects on him.

"Okay…I'll take it…thanks" he said, still a bit unsure as he slipped the 300 dollars into his pocket.

"And please, if you are ever in need of help, know you can come to us. Nan worries about you a lot so she's glad you and Daphne are such good friends" Barty said, walking Naruto out with his hand draped over his shoulder.

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks sir" Naruto told him with a soft smile before Barty patted him on the back and allowed him to head off to the car.

"Why did my dad keep you back like that?" Daphne asked, a bit worried he might have said something weird as he got into the backseat of Nan's fancy convertible beside Daphne.

"Nothing don't worry, we just had a nice talk" he told her, smiling softly as he noticed Nan looking at him in the rearview mirror with a smile as well.

As they arrived at the Bloody Stake they explained the situation which thankfully the waitress they got found to be cute as she showed them to their booths although he was told he could sit with Daphne until her date showed up.

All the while they were waiting Naruto alternated between talking with Daphne and replying to messages on his phone from the post he made last night.

He didn't expect a reply so quickly and at first he was hesitant to answer some of their questions but it was clear they also knew how odd the books were and they were almost talking in pseudo-code about it.

Through it he learned that the person had book #2 which had been in her family for a good number of generations. Her grandmother told her though that if someone was collecting them then she had to help them, something he was grateful for.

Other than that he was also replying to Velma's texts, smiling and chuckling every now and again at what she said and told him while he and Daphne fed on 'finger fries'.

"Keeping a lady waiting, I'm not liking this guy more and more. You deserve someone who doesn't keep you waiting" Naruto told her as they had already snacked on 12 hands of finger fries.

"I know right! This is seriously ridiculous as we showed up an hour early and he's already two hours later" she said with a frown, resting her head on her hands as Naruto grabbed her menu.

"Okay then let's eat without him as I can't eat any more fries without it ruining dinner. I'm thinking of having the 12 ounce 'Bloody Steak' with some of their eviscerated potatoes. What about you? Also don't worry, I'll pay" Naruto told her, handing it back to her as she smiled, liking the idea of eating without him since it felt like an outing between the two of them which she was rarely able to have.

"Then in that case I think I'll get the salad as I've heard good things about it" she told him, calling over a waitress to place their orders as well as tell them they could use the booth next to them.

"So, you've been smiling a lot? Is a certain girl texting you a lot~?" Daphne teased with a smirk as their food arrived. "Texting another girl while on a date, for shame Naruto" she added with a fake disapproving shake of her head and a few 'tsks'.

"You're right, I was taught better. Will you ever forgive? From now on I promise you are the only ones I have eyes for" he teased back, grabbing her hand from across the table before softly kissing the back of it.

He had been fake teased by Velma enough to know how to turn it around and mess with others, Daphne's blush and flustered look being incredibly worth it before he started laughing a bit.

He was happy that Daphne was seemingly enjoying herself, pouting a bit with a soft smile at his teasing back at her. They were well into their meal before Naruto saw a guy walking over to their table.

"Hey Daphne sorry I'm late, work has just been insanely busy. Ladder sales are climbing through the roof. Who's this?" the man asked, his voice being the one he heard from the phone which only made Naruto smirk at.

"Hi, I'm her chaperone and good friend Naruto. Pleasure to meet you Rung and I don't know what work ladders involve but what business makes a guy three hours late for a 'date' he set up?" Naruto asked as he scooted over and ate a piece of his steak.

"It doesn't matter, you wouldn't understand" Rung said, waving it off as he sat down. "Ooo what did you order for me, I'm starving" Rung said, reaching over and grabbing Daphne's salad. Though before he could take a bite Naruto grabbed it and returned it to her.

"What kind of a barn were you raised in dude!? Taking someone's food and being so self-absorbed you'd think they ordered for you when you were three hours late? Seriously?" Naruto said, glaring a bit at him as this was beyond ridiculous.

"Daphne, Naruto! You won't believe what happened" Fred said, surprising them to see the whole gang beside their booth.

"I can't wait to hear all about it, lets go!" Daphne said rapidly as she got up from the booth, clearly wanting to leave now that Rung had got here and honestly Naruto didn't blame her.

"Um, Rung here" Rung said, standing up to let Naruto stand up and get out of the booth.

"Hey you must be Rung" Fred said as he reached out to give Rung a handshake which only made Naruto roll his eyes at and Daphne frown a bit. "Cool ascot, what's your neck size? I'm a 16 and a half but sometimes it swells out to a 19 when its humid" he went on while Naruto signaled a waitress over who was thankfully ready with to-go boxes and their receipt.

"Uh…that's great but Daphne, shouldn't we be getting back to dinner?" Rung asked while Daphne seemingly quickly grabbed her purse.

"Sorry Rung but something more important has come up" Daphne told him as Rung sighed.

"And don't worry, I paid for our dinner and its all good to go" Naruto told them, holding the bag with their left over boxes in it as he had paid the bill. He had also made sure to give their waitress double her usual 15 percent tip since she did originally start with waiting on both their booths and he felt bad about making her lose out on some tip money.

"By the way I'm a big fan of your product, a sturdy ladder is hard to find these days" Fred continued since if anything was related to traps or the parts used in them he was a natural chatter box.

"Oh…well, thanks. I agree. And FYI my neck's a 16 and a half too and yeah, sometimes it swells" Rung said, Naruto resisting the urge to roll his eyes while Velma smirked beside him and patted him on the arm.

"Really? Here!" Fred started as he undid his ascot before draping it over Rung's neck. "Hey that looks pretty good on you" he added with a smile.

"You are so right! Here, take mine" Rung said, taking his purple one off and giving it to Fred who proceeded to tie it.

"B-But Fred told me he never takes off his lucky ascot!" Daphne told Velma and him, frowning as she had told him how she worked on it to keep it together and even sewed a cursive 'F' on the back of it just for him.

"I'm sorry Daphne" Naruto said as he tried to calm her down by rubbing her shoulder before Rung walked past them.

Naruto rose an eyebrow as Scooby hopped into the booth and licked their plates before opening the menu that had been set at the table for Rung. "Ruys, what's ris?" Scooby asked, showing them the menu before Shaggy took it from him.

"Like far out, its like some kind of freaky letter man" Shaggy said, showing it to them and letting them see the 'E' pressed on the red wax seal on the front.

"I have a feeling I know who its from and its not the warm and fuzzy kind of feeling" Velma commented while Fred took the letter and opened it, revealing a CD inside which prompted them to go back into the Mystery Machine to listen to it.

" _Greetings everyone this is Mr. E. If you want to solve the mystery you need to follow the fog. Remember crystal can't open doors like a diamond. Talk soon_ " the recording said as they sat in silence for a bit trying to think over what he had just told them.

"Okay so that either means absolutely nothing…or it's a clue!" Velma said as the whole 'crystal can't open doors' part was a clear reference to the crystal doorknobs going missing and the fog was referencing the ghost trucker. She though was confused about the 'diamond' part.

"But how do we even know we can trust Mr. E? He could be the ghost trucker" Daphne said as Naruto patted her on the back with a smile.

"Don't worry Daphne as he's contacted us before during other cases and it'd be odd for him to contact us if we were looking into him. I agree we shouldn't blindly trust him but clues are clues" Naruto told her, easing her worries before Fred nodded.

"Yeah don't worry Daphe, I won't let anything happen to you" he said, making Naruto raise an eyebrow at since he felt this would only come crashing down.

"You wouldn't Fred?" she asked in a somewhat dreamy tone as this was just what she was wanting to hear.

"Of course not! I wouldn't let anything happen to any of my pals! You're all the same in my eyes" Fred said, doing exactly what Naruto felt was going to happen before he gently rubbed Daphne's back to console her a bit after having her hopes raised only to have them dropped instantly like that.

"Like Naruto said, whether we can trust Mr. E or not a lead is a lead and we need to follow it" Velma said, changing the subject before they decided to set off.

As they drove Naruto was surprised to hear they ran into the Ghost Truck before coming to get them, finding it inactive before it started up and chased after them. And with that in mind, going to where they found it was the obvious choice.

"Okay gang, keep an eye out for tire tracks. Let's see if we can figure out where it's come from or where they lead to" Fred told them as they left the van, all equipped with flashlights that should make it easier to peer through the fog a bit.

Naruto walked alongside Velma as they scanned the ground, Daphne staying nearby while Fred as well as the normal duo of Shaggy and Scooby all went off on their own. "So how was your date Naruto?" Velma teased, bumping her hip into him lightly with a smirk on her face.

"It was nice, had some nice food, chatted a good deal, I think I have a shot" Naruto teased back, chuckling a bit as he bumped her back which only made her and Daphne laugh a bit at.

"He was incredibly sweet and kind, you'll really enjoy going on a date with him when you decide to" Daphne told Velma with a smile as she had been told by Naruto the reason as to why they weren't dating just yet and it made sense. Although she also knew the both of them were basically dating just not having told the others yet about it.

"Well that's good to hear that you can behave for others so why not me?" Velma asked with a raised eyebrow and a bit of a teasing pout while Naruto shrugged his shoulders with a smirk as if to say 'who knows'.

"Guys I found them, tire tracks just like before" Fred alerted them, getting them to head over to him to see Shaggy following them in the direction away from the street.

"Yeah only these stop like really fast" Shaggy said, rubbing his head as he walked into the side of the mountain by following them.

"Or do they? Duh, there's a secret passage somewhere. There must be a way to open it, let's find it" Velma said as they all split up and started to look around the area where the tire marks were leading out from.

Daphne was the first to find something, screaming a bit as bats flew out of a small opening in the mountain before she found a lever and pulled it. That seemed to make a small part of the mountain raise up to reveal a flat surface with a square and triangle opening along with matching shaped rocks.

Velma and Fred, who were nearby, shrugged their shoulders as there wasn't anything else to do other than put them into the corresponding slots. Once they were put in the next 'step' happened with a rock rose out from the ground under Scooby, surprising the dog only to have him sit down and it got back into the ground beneath him.

"Okay that is the weirdest set of steps for a secret entrance that I have ever seen or heard of and I've watched crappy horror movies" Naruto said with a flat look as the mountain wall in front of the tire tracks rose up to reveal a secret cavern. "Also after all of this is said and done I so call dibs on this place" he added as they walked in, getting chuckles from a few of them.

"Think this could be our new secret hang out?" Velma asked with a smile as he draped his arm over her shoulder with a matching smile.

"Sure thing just me, you, and a couple thousand doorknobs" Naruto said in shock as after they walked into the cavern a bit they found a good few mountains of crystal doorknobs. "This is insane" he muttered to himself as he picked up a few of them and looked them over.

"Guys get a look at this, it's the journal belonging to a guy named Theodore Avocado" Daphne said, walking over to them as she read through a book she had found on top of a mine cart that was full of doorknobs.

"Theodore Avocados? That's George's dad, the one who was arrested for diamond theft even though the diamond was never found" Fred said, Daphne a bit confused as she hadn't met George and only heard a bit about him since the others had met him yesterday morning when she was busy at home.

"Well according to this he really was the thief, the confession is right here in black and white" she told them as Velma rubbed her chin a bit with a smirk, her telltale sign of her being incredibly close to connecting the dots.

"Hey remember what Mr. E's hint said about how crystal can't open doors like a diamond? I think this mystery is starting to come together" she said before a familiar crackling sounded out behind them and a pair of headlights started to peek out of fog that was rolling into the cavern.

"Well it's going to have to come together later!" Shaggy yelled as the truck's horn was starting to blare, getting them all to start running out and back to the Mystery Machine.

The second they were in Fred floored it, just in time as the Ghost Truck shot out of the cavern and was hot on their trails. It didn't take long for it to hit them, sending them spinning around a few times only to end up turned around which caused Fred to have to evade the truck in reverse around the bends of the road.

"Seriously! What is up with this guy and trying to run us off the road!?" Naruto yelled, incredibly frustrated as he clutched the back of the seat to keep from falling over due to the erratic driving needed for them to not be plowed into by the Ghost Truck.

They weren't able to turn around to drive forward until they reached town wasn't until they arrived at town. The Ghost Truck though didn't care one bit as it destroyed the 'Welcome to Crystal Cove' sign above the road and continued to give chase to them as they drove through town.

By the time they turned around though Fred had little choices of directions to go, forcing him to drive up a set of stairs and onto a pathway alongside a building and through a few patio furniture sets with the truck right beside them on the road next to the building.

"Fred, what are we going to do?" Daphne asked worried as they got back onto the road in front of the Ghost Truck as this time she doubted they could hide or lose it given just how determined it seemed to run them down.

"The only thing we can do! Lead it to one of my traps!" Fred told them with a fire in his eyes as it was times like these that his obsession with making traps paid off for them.

With a trap in mind Fred drove in the direction of City Hall before actually driving into it and the Ghost Truck again, not caring as it barreled in behind them. "Scooby, now!" Fred signaled, getting Scooby to put a 'Scooby Snack' into a straw before firing it out the window at a record player.

Naruto was a bit impressed by the trap as the vinyl record shot off the player, cutting a rope which then sent a sandbag down to launch a can of paint which just continued to set off a chain reaction of things before they drove up the stairs just in time for the metal plate at the top to spring just as the truck was over it.

"Well that was intense…also is that a shark in a tank?!" Naruto said in shock as he was confused how the hell Fred got ahold of that. But then again being the son of the mayor probably helped. "Everyone okay?" he quickly asked as the shock of the chase and the shark wore off, looking around to see everyone nodding before they got out of the van and looked down at the upside down Ghost Truck.

"Pickled porcupines what's going on here Fred!?" Mayor Jones, clearly upset as he entered the main hall. "I was in my office working late when suddenly it sounds like some demonic forces are tearing apart City Hall…tell me its true" Mayor Jones said, clearly wanting to be able to use that as a potential 'tourist attraction'.

"It's even better dad, we caught the Ghost Trucker and he's none other than…" Fred started to say before the door to the Ghost Truck opened.

"Let me out of here!" a familiar voice yelled out before they fell out of the upside down truck to reveal themselves as Rung Ladderton who sighed in annoyance.

"Rung Ladderton!?" everyone said in shock as he got up and dusted himself off.

"Ooo! Ah! Shock, yeah that's right. And I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling….peers" he said, making Naruto chuckle a bit.

"Never heard that one before" Naruto joked as it was always 'meddling kids'.

"Of course, it all makes sense! Rung was using the ghost truck to smuggle doorknobs out of Crystal Cove so he could find Theodore Avocado's missing diamond" Daphne said as she too had put it together just like Velma was about to back in the cave.

"Avocados disguise the diamond as a doorknob, that's why it was never found" Fred added onto it as Rung sighed.

"You are correct my little ascot wearing friend but that idiot Avocados didn't say in his journal which crystal knob was really the diamond so I had to steal them all. And what better way than a 'Ghost Truck' fitted with nitrous and fog machines to smuggle them all out of town" Rung revealed, explaining how the truck was so damn fast as well as how it was always clouded with fog.

"We should have known, while you two were away we figured out the only two people with tires like the Ghost Truck were George Avocados and someone by the name of G. Nurno Treddal. That name alone was far too ridiculous to be real because it was Rung Ladderton spelled backwards" Velma told them, making Naruto shake his head at the stupid fact that Rung's alias was just his name spelled backwards.

'Here I thought only cheesy cartoon villains did that' Naruto thought as he followed the others as they walked down the stairs towards Rung.

"But Rung you're rich, you've got everything: ladders, ascots. Why did you need a diamond?" Fred asked as Rung turned back towards them, arms still crossed in annoyance.

"I inherited a **ladder** company, we make the one product in the world that no one ever replaces. Ladders don't wear out like TVs or personal trainers over 40. No, no, they're built to last which means no sales, the company is broke" Rung said as Sherriff Stone and another officer came to cuff him before Daphne walked up to him with Naruto beside her.

"I don't think you'll be needing this anymore" she said as she took off Fred's ascot.

"As for me," Naruto said before he punched Rung hard in the face with a glare "that is for nearly killing us so many damn times!" he yelled, taking a deep breath to calm himself down as Rung was walked off by the cops. "God that felt good to get out of my system" he told them with a smile, getting a smile from others as well since they knew he did it due to not liking that they were put in danger, before he draped his arm over Velma's shoulder.

"Thanks Daph" Fred said as Daphne took off Rung's ascot and tied Fred's orange one back on him.

"No worries, I'm always here for you Fred. No seriously, right here" she said, trying to hammer in the point only to sigh a bit as it still seemed to hit the proverbial brick wall only to bounce off.

"I got to hand it to you Fred, your traps actually came in handy this time" Mayor Jones said, putting his hand on his son's back as Fred turned around with a hopeful look on his face.

"Gee dad, does this mean you finally accept what I want to do with my life?" he asked only for Mayor Jones to literally start laughing.

"Oh Fred, no. Now get your van out of City Hall" Mayor Jones said before walking off.

'Ouch, tough day for hopes. Second time being raised only to drop flat on their faces' Naruto thought with a sigh as he and the others walked back to the van.

It was a quick group consensus that they all wanted to head back home for the day, Velma sadly unable to come over again as she was dropped off. As Daphne was getting dropped off Naruto decided to walk her up to her door – given he had been her chaperone – and smiled to Nan and Barty as they opened the door.

"So how was the date with Rung?" Nan asked as Daphne sighed.

"He turned out to be the Ghost Trucker and had been the one trying to crash into us with the truck…though guess it wasn't so bad as I had a good time with Naruto. Thanks again for that" Daphne said, giving him a hug which he returned.

"Any time Daphne, it was nice getting to hang out one on one" he told her as her parents smiled at him.

"Always feel free to drop in any time Naruto okay?" Nan said as she hugged him next, getting him to chuckle as he hugged her back.

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind" he told her as she let go and he accepted a hand shake from Barty before heading back to the van.

"You know Daphne….have you ever considered dating Naruto?" Barty asked his daughter, looking at her with a smirk as her eyes widened and she grew a bit of a blush.

"W-What? No! He's just a friend and he has someone he likes and is dating" Daphne said, the idea of dating Naruto – while not terrible – shocked her since it was coming from her dad of all people.

"Who's to say that's bad?" her mom said, making Daphne's blush grow before she turned around and hurried inside.

"No, no, no, not listening! Going to bed!" Daphne yelled as she covered her ears and ran up the stairs, making her parents chuckle a bit as they walked in and closed the door.

"Who knows, maybe Kushina's son will be my son in time" Nan said with a happy giggle as Barty rubbed her back as he too wouldn't mind that either

 **-Chapter End-**

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 **First and Foremost**

Before I even get to mentioning stuff of the chapter – do **NOT** leave reviews that just say 'Update this other fic' as god damn does that annoy the crap out of me and most likely make me not interested in updating that fic even more. Stick to leaving reviews about the story.

* * *

Now onto story notes

When it comes to the books Naruto will tell Velma in time once he has more than two books to go off of and knows a bit more of what he got himself into. Don't think he's hiding it and when he tells her she'll be pissed and feel betrayed. Velma is a smart girl so she'd understand

Also as you can see, she is getting use to his groping a good deal more as now she has no 'Shaggy guilt' lingering over her which will only get them closer. No lemon right away as I have the utmost perfect scenario for the two of them to have their first times together and given its only two episodes away I'd say you all can wait lol

I really wanted Naruto call out the Sherriff for this since god damn it was stupid 'Yeah come see a truck that will ram you off the road and chase you continuously. Fun for the whole family'.

And as for Fred and his denseness/being unaware of romance in the slightest…I really forgot just how bad it is and how odd he is with going back and forth of 'Feelings, no feelings, feelings, no feelings' hence why I wanted to kinda have Naruto really be there for Daphne from helping her with Rung to just consoling her at times and giving her good advice.

I added in the Nan and Kushina being childhood friends as I wanted to get Naruto closer to Daphne as it is official! Daphne is joining the harem alongside Velma and Marcie (Marcie was planned from the start). I also have three other girls planned as a 'long distance harem members' more or less

I did the message board thing about the books as it'll be the 'trigger' to get him another book and meet the three long distance members. Don't worry about any unsavory people finding the post as let's say the help mentioned in chapter 1 refers to making sure Naruto isn't noticed and that he finds the books.

After all why else would a book like that be in a public library like it was in chapter 3?

I also feel the last scene with Daphne and her parents was nice and cute as well as helping serve as the 'seeds' being planted in a sense along with how nice Naruto was at the Bloody Stake.

All in all I hope the chapter was good after being away from this fic for so long

Till the Next Time

Drop a review!

See Ya!


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